Your Illusion
by protejerinnocencia
Summary: Someone has it out for JJ.  When she goes missing, the team must scramble to put together a profile in order to save another of their own.  What they find at the end of the evidence is something so unexpected it will rattle the team to its core.
1. Eyes In the Mirror

**Eyes in the Mirror**

The conference room was fairly quiet as the team filed in. They had just returned from a triple rape homicide in Kentucky and they all looked exhausted. Reid and Emily slumped into chairs, clutching cups of coffee.

"You did well today," Hotch said, surveying his team.

"You never know which cases are going to get to you," Emily sighed, trying not to close her eyes. She could still see the victims' bodies in her mind's eye. Reid gave her a sympathetic look as did Morgan. JJ sat quietly a few chairs away, staring at her closed briefcase.

"Alright, get out of here and get some sleep," Gideon ordered. Morgan shook his head, gathering up his paperwork and heading for his desk.

"Morgan, I said go home. You can do the reports in the morning," Gideon called after the agent.

"You sure? Kentucky authorities are going to want these ASAP," Morgan replied and Gideon just nodded his head. With a yawn, Derek put the pile of papers on his desk and grabbed his keys. Slowly Emily stood up and followed him out towards the elevator. Reid noticed that JJ hadn't said a word since they'd boarded the plane in Kentucky.

"You ok?" he asked in a hushed tone.

"Huh? Yeah. I'm just tired that's all," she muttered.

"You seem a little down," he remarked as they both stood up. She didn't say anything as they headed for her office so she could put her case files away.

"I don't know. I've been thinking a lot lately," she murmured. Reid caught her by the arm and pulled her into a loose hug.

"I keep thinking if we hadn't split up that night," she began, fighting tears.

"JJ…it's not your fault. I was the one who said we should split up," he whispered, holding her closer now.

"But I should have known better than to agree to it," she sniffed. HE shushed her, holding her tight as she let the pent up tears slither down her cheeks.

"I'm sorry I'm breaking down like this Spence. I guess I've just been holding it in for a while," she gasped, backing up to dry her eyes.

"It's ok. We're both ok. That's all that matters," he reminded her.

"I'll see you tomorrow," she said, grabbing her keys and jacket.

"Do you want me to walk you to your car?" he offered and she nodded.

When they headed out to the elevator it appeared that they were the last ones to leave. The ride down in the elevator was quiet. Just as they were about to walk out the front door, Reid's phone went off. He pulled it from his pocket and checked the display. JJ had stopped walking and turned to look at him.

"Just a second," he said and held up his hand.

"Hello?" he spoke into the small device.

"Hey," a familiar voice said from the other end.

"Hi…what's going on?" he replied.

"Nothing. You didn't pick up at your apartment…I was getting worried," the voice on the other end stated.

"I've been in Kentucky for the last few days," he answered.

"Kentucky? What's in Kentucky?" the caller questioned.

"We had a triple rape homicide. It's just me and JJ right now. We're the last ones out of the building," he explained.

"Oh. Right. I should have figured it was something like that," the voice said with a laugh.

"Can I stop by tonight?" the caller asked.

"Yeah…of course. I'll see you in an hour or so?" he said and hung up. JJ eyed him with a raised brow.

"Friend of mine. Haven't seen them in a while," Reid explained vaguely. He didn't really want to tell JJ who had been on the other end of the call. JJ just laughed a little and patted Reid's arm affectionately.

"Come on, let's get out of here," JJ said and they headed for her car. Miraculously Reid had parked right next to her.

"See you in the morning...err later," Reid called, checking his watch. It was already two in the morning. He hadn't realized just how late it was.

"Bye," she called, giving him a wave as she climbed into her car.

She buckled up and stuck the key in the ignition. With a firm push of the gas, she was pulling out of the parking lot and onto the highway to head home. He followed suit, pulling out in the opposite direction as JJ. His drive home was fairly quick and uneventful. He dropped his keys on the kitchen table and hit the button on his answering machine. Three messages played from Elle. He smiled a little at her playful tone. He just shook his head as he deleted them.

She maneuvered around the few cars still on the road at two in the morning until she hit the residential area, getting stuck at a red light. Little did she know that not far away someone was following her every moment. The black vehicle pulled up to the red light moments after JJ sped away. The driver's gaze followed the other car as it turned the corner. Pressing down on the gas, the driver lifted a hand from the steering wheel to tuck a stray strand of brown hair behind her ear. Instead of following JJ around the corner, the second car went straight, taking a shortcut so as to beat JJ to her destination. The black car pulled up down the street a house or two, waiting anxiously for JJ's car to pull into the driveway.

"Come on," the driver breathed, tapping her fingers on the wheel before her. Finally JJ pulled into the drive. She watched as JJ climbed out of the driver's side and went fishing for her house keys in her purse. As quietly as she could, she slipped from her own vehicle, making sure to keep to the shadows so as not to be seen. JJ finally found the front door key and inserted it into the doorknob. She heard it click and pushed the door open. The figure in the shadows moved closer to the door, hoping to slip inside before it shut. She was just fast enough to slip inside before the screen door slammed shut.

JJ tossed her keys and purse on the small table to her left, pulling off her jacket. She unsuccessfully stifled a yawn as she clumsily hung the jacket on a hanger in the closer. She looked around her and headed for the kitchen, her pursuer not leaving her position by the door.

"Coffee," JJ muttered to herself. She didn't care that it was close to two thirty right now. She was in dire need of coffee. She should have gotten some when the rest of the team had stopped earlier. She set the pot to steep and checked her phone messages. She had none but that didn't surprise her. Who would call her at home anyway?

Suddenly her ears pricked up at a sound. She wasn't entirely sure what it was but she was pretty sure she hadn't imagined it. She left the pot to continue it's process and wandered back into the front hall. She looked around and didn't see anything at first. As she turned around, she could swear she saw a pair of eyes reflected in the mirror on the wall beside her. She looked again and they were definitely there. She was about to turn around when she heard a click and felt something press against her head.

"Don't move," an eerily familiar voice ordered. JJ swallowed and tried to glance in the mirror again.

"Elle?" she asked, her throat suddenly dry.

"Long time no see, JJ," Elle said calmly, not removing the gun from the back of JJ's head.

"What are you doing? How did you get in?" JJ asked, trying to stay calm. She was reaching for her phone that lay on the table nearby.

"Well you let me in," Elle answered with a smirk, swiping the phone out of JJ's reach.

"What do you want?" JJ asked, trying not to panic. She had faced a lot more dangerous situations…or had she? A rogue former agent seemed pretty damn dangerous at the moment.

"You," Elle hissed and smacked JJ upside the head with the butt of the gun. Her vision blurred before everything went black. JJ dropped to the floor with a 'thud'. Elle stowed her weapon and bent down over JJ's body. She surveyed the agent; Elle could easily disarm JJ and cut her off from the rest of the team. She reached into her jacket pocket and pulled out a pair of flex cuffs. With care she slid them over JJ's wrists and pulled her to her feet. As inconspicuously as she could, Elle dragged JJ out of the house, making sure to lock the door behind her, using JJ's hand. They finally reached Elle's car and she slid the unconscious agent into the back seat.

"Time for a ride," Elle snickered, speeding away from the scene. Twenty minutes later, Elle had deposited JJ in her basement and made sure she couldn't go anywhere. Satisfied with herself, she headed back to her car and made the drive over to Reid's. She knocked on the door, waiting for him to answer.

"Hey stranger," she said with a smirk as he let her in.


	2. Pick Up Line

**Pick Up Line**

Her eyes slowly opened to darkness. For a minute she thought she was still asleep until her eyes started to adjust. She could make out a wall in front of her. She knew immediately she wasn't at home. Aside from that knowledge, she had no idea where she was. She tried to remember what had happened but her head was throbbing too much to think very hard. She turned her head to right and was met with another wall. To her left farther away was a door. She closed her eyes again to try and ward off the pain in her head but to no avail.

"Think JJ," she mumbled to herself. She tried to sit up but found that to be nearly impossible. She tried to lift her hand and found her wrist bound by a chain. It ws then that she realized she was lying a bed. She tugged her hand and the chain rattled a little. Her brow furrowed because the restraint didn't feel like metal at all. She pulled her hand as close to her face she could and in the dark examined the cuff binding her.

"Flex cuffs," she breathed. Next she tried to move her feet but found them to be in the same condition as her wrists. Finally accepting that she was indeed not going to go anywhere anytime soon she resigned herself to conserve her energy.

Some time later her ears pricked up at the sounds of footfalls from what sounded like above her. She opened her eyes slightly to see the door open to reveal that it concealed a staircase. The footsteps grew louder and then stopped. JJ clenched her eyes shut to make it appear she hadn't heard her captor approach. Suddenly there was a dim light in the room and she felt a hand on her shoulder. She opened her eyes to take in a familiar face.

"You're awake," Elle said softly.

"What's going on?" JJ asked, confused. What was Elle doing here? Elle shined the small flashlight onto JJ's hair and let out a hiss.

"That looks like it hurts," she commented, touching the lump tenderly. The touch made JJ jump in pain. The pain in her head somehow triggered her memory and she remembered Elle holding her at gun point.

"Where are we?" the blond asked.

"All you need to know is that you're safe," Elle answered, propping herself on the edge of the bed.

"Safe? I'm chained to a bed," JJ spat.

"Relax. Just relax," Elle said, patting JJ's left hand.

"Don't touch me," JJ hissed.

"I don't want to hurt you," Elle said calmly. She reached to her left and picked up a mug. JJ hadn't noticed the small table to her left.

"Then why did you kidnap me?" JJ demanded, her eyes following Elle's index finger circling the rim of the mug.

"You don't need to worry about that. Here have something to drink. You're probably thirsty," Elle answered, offering the mug.

"I'm not stupid," JJ said, pushing the mug away. Elle merely sighed and stood up. She set the mug on the table but didn't leave the room. JJ stared at the former agent's back for a few minutes. She had to admit she was thirsty and who knew how generous Elle would be in the future.

"Alright…fine," JJ murmured. Elle turned around and propped JJ up a little with some pillows.

"Here," Elle said, lifting the cup to JJ's lips. She couldn't tell what was in the cup as she parted her lips. The liquid started to flow down her throat and she coughed at the taste. As best she could, she pushed Elle's hand away.

"What the hell?" JJ sputtered.

"Drink it," Elle ordered, her tone no different than it had been moments earlier. JJ shook her head in the negative. She heard a click and saw a gun from the corner of her eye.

"Drink it," she repeated. Her tone was a fraction firmer. JJ could feel a bead of sweat form on her upper lip as she downed the rest of the liquid. She coughed a time or two as she swallowed the last of it and began to feel drowsy.

"What…did you give me?" she asked, the world starting to dim once more.

"Just get some rest," Elle told her and started to walk away. The last thing JJ heard was the door at the bottom of the stairs shutting with a soft 'click'.

Over at the FBI headquarters, the BAU team was assembling in the conference room. Everyone looked at least slightly rested. No one spoke for what seemed like ages. Emily continually glanced at the doorway, expecting JJ to walk through it at any moment to brief them on their next case.

"Has anyone seen JJ this morning?" she finally asked.

"Haven't seen her since last night," Morgan answered. The comments drew Hotch's attention.

"Can someone call her…she could just be stuck in traffic," he said. Morgan pulled out his phone and scrolled through his contact list, pulling up JJ's cell phone number and pressed 'send'. He waited as it rang several times. He heard a noise and was about to speak when he heard JJ's voice message. He ended the call.

"Went to voice mail," he announced.

"Try it again. Someone else try her home number. It's a long shot but she might still be at home," Hotch ordered. Reid pulled his phone out as well and dialed JJ's home number. Morgan dialed her cell number. Both men ended up getting messages.

"Went to voice mail again," Morgan said.

"Same at home. Went to her answering machine," Reid added.

"That's odd," Emily remarked.

"Should we stop by the house?" Reid suggested.

"I don't think we need to panic. We can make a stop by her place but it's not major," Hotch stated. The team nodded in agreement and went to grab their jackets. The majority of the team headed down in the elevator. Gideon hung back and caught Hotch by the sleeve.

"We sure this isn't something serious?" he asked.

"We don't want the team to panic. We've had enough close calls to risk it," Hotch muttered as they followed the rest of the team. The team reached the garage and headed for the large van.

"No guys. We don't want to alert the neighbors. Take your own cars," Gideon called. So they all piled into Morgan and Emily's cars. They maneuvered the traffic and ended up on JJ's street. They parked a few houses down. Ironically, they were parked in the same spot Elle had been only hours before.

"Her car is still in the driveway," Reid noted as they approached the house. Morgan took off his sunglasses and peered in the front window. He didn't see anything strange or out of the ordinary. Emily had moved to the front door and tried the knob.

"Front door is locked," she called. Reid searched his pockets until he came up with a paper clip. He unbent it and stuck it in the lock. Without a word he began to wiggle it around in the knob, trying to maneuver it around to unlock the door.

"Do I want to know where you learned that?" Morgan asked with a laugh.

"You've always got to be resourceful," Reid stated as the lock clicked open. He pulled the door open and they all filed inside. Hotch immediately spotted JJ's car keys and wallet on the table.

"Spread out," he instructed. Reid and Emily headed down the hallway towards the bedroom and bathroom. Morgan headed for the kitchen while Gideon and Hotch took the living room and dining room. Shouts of 'clear' echoed through the small house as each room was found empty. Reid opened up the bathroom mirror cabinet, peering at the various medical supplies.

"Reid," Emily said from the doorway. He turned to look at her.

"We're looking for JJ…not going through her stuff" she reminded him. He blushed and shut the cabinet.

"Right," he muttered.

"Find anything?" he asked her.

"No…nothing," she sighed.

"Guys, you might want to see this," Morgan called. Footsteps sounded from various directions as the team reassembled in the kitchen. He was pointing to large mess on the floor by the sink. Emily bent down and looked at the mushy substance on the ground.

"Smells like coffee," she mused.

"She wouldn't just leave coffee brewing," Reid commented. Emily nodded as she stood up again. The three younger agents all shared an anxious look.

"So…we've got an exploding coffee pot and no JJ anywhere in this house," Morgan recapped for the team.

"But her car is still here, as are her keys, wallet and the front door was locked," Reid added. No one spoke for a minute. No one wanted to say the obvious question burning on everyone's mind. Finally Gideon broke the uneasy silence.

"So that begs the question," Gideon began and Morgan finished the sentence for him.

"Where is our girl, JJ?" he sighed. The team looked around. This was starting to feel eerily familiar.


	3. No One but Me

**No One but Me**

The team looked around the kitchen in silence. They all felt like they needed to jump into action but they felt paralyzed. JJ was missing and they had no idea why. Finally Emily stepped up and took charge.

"We should get a forensics team in here. Whoever took her was bound to have left some trace here," she said. Her voice with its commanding tone seemed to snap everyone back into reality. Gideon pulled out his phone and dialed back to Quantico to get a team out.

"Team's on the way," he told them.

"So what do we do now?" Reid asked. He kept looking at the mushy coffee grinds on the floor.

"We wait and see what they find," Morgan answered.

"Morgan, get Garcia on the line and tell her what's going on. See if she can find any people in JJ's past," Hotch said. Morgan nodded and headed out of the room. He dialed Garcia's extension and waited for her to pick up.

"You've reached the realm of omniscience," Garcia said from the other end.

"Hey Mama, we have a situation," Morgan stated.

"Hit me," she replied, fingers poised over the keys.

"JJ's missing and-" he began but she cut him off.

"Missing? When? How?" Garcia gasped.

"We don't know. That's why we need you. We want you to dig, baby. See if you can find anyone in her past; an old boyfriend…anything that might help us," he said. His tone was pleading and she could feel the seriousness of the situation.

"I'm on it," she said and they ended the call.

Just as Morgan hung up with Garcia he heard the forensic techs pull up. Four people with FBI jackets walked through the front door, armed with evidence kits. Hotch appeared from the kitchen doorway.

"I want you to dust every surface for fingerprints, check hairs and fibers, everything. If someone else has been in this house besides JJ I want to know," he ordered. The techs spread out. Reid donned gloves and picked up a brush and some metallic powder, heading for the front door.

"Reid, man what are you doing?" Morgan asked.

"Helping," Reid answered. He couldn't help but feel guilty. He should tell the team that he was the last to see JJ the night before. He bent down, dusting first the inside doorknob. He found a bunch of prints, carefully lifting them with the tape. He handed to the closed technician and moved on to the outer knob.

"What's he doing?" Gideon asked, coming from the hallway that led to the bathroom and bedroom.

"Helping…but I get the feeling there's something wrong here," Morgan answered. Rid had finished dusting the front knob and sat back on his heels. He knew at least two sets of prints would come back to match him and Emily.

"Hey…two sets of those prints are going to belong to myself and Agent Prentiss," he told the tech. The man nodded and seemed to make a note of it.

"You ok, Reid?" Morgan asked, joining him by the door.

"Actually no," Reid admitted, standing up and joining the rest of the team in the living room.

"I…I was the last person to see JJ last night. I walked her out to her car," he told them.

"This isn't your fault," Emily said.

"I just feel guilty…" he sighed.

"We'll find her," Gideon told him, placing a gentle hand on the young man's shoulder.

Close to an hour later the entire house had been dusted for prints and hairs and fibers. The unit had headed back to headquarters to regroup and wait for the results of the fingerprint analysis.

"I feel like we're spinning our wheels. We have no idea who or what we're looking for," Emily grumbled. She hadn't been with the unit that long but she still felt attached to them all. She liked JJ and to have her go missing made her nervous. Just then Garcia walked in, holding a pile of papers.

"What did you find?" Hotch asked before any of the other agents could open their mouths.

"Not much. She had a couple of boyfriends back in college but none lately. There's been no suspicious activity on her credit cards and no activity on her cell since yesterday," she answered, looking upset.

"And I ran into the forensic tech guy. He gave me this," she answered, handing the fingerprint analysis over to Hotch. He looked over the results. Aside from Reid and Emily's prints on the front door, the only prints in the entire place were JJ's.

"Please tell me we have something to work with," Morgan breathed.

"I'm afraid not. No one has been in this house except for JJ," he answered.

"That's not possible. Someone had to get in and take her," Reid rebutted.

"There were some prints on the front door that were at an odd angle but they were still JJ's," Hotch explained.

"Maybe she knew her kidnapper," Morgan suggested.

"Someone she felt she could let in?" Emily offered.

"At three in the morning?" Reid countered. How hypocritical he sounded in his own head. He'd had a guest of his own late that night.

"Whoever we're dealing with, is organized. They were smart. Didn't touch anything or leave any fibers behind," Gideon said, starting to pace.

"But how did they get in the house with the door locked?" Morgan asked.

"Did anyone check the back door? They could have gotten in that way," Garcia offered.

"There is a door leading to the backyard from the kitchen. It was locked," Morgan answered.

"Unless this person was a ghost or can walk through walls, I have no idea how they could have gotten into a locked house and gotten out without touching anything," Reid stated, starting to get frustrated.

Miles away from headquarters, Elle was sitting at her computer, checking the TV listings for that evening. She didn't find anything of interest so she closed the browser. She quickly checked her watch; almost eleven o'clock. Stretching, she stood and headed outside to the end of her driveway. Pulling the door down, she retrieved the few pieces of mail and sorted through them. It was mostly junk mail, aside from the cable bill. She was heading inside when she felt a vibration on her hip. She smiled as she walked back inside. On her way through the kitchen she tossed the junk mail in the trash. Before heading down the stairs, she refilled the mug by the sink. When she reached the bottom she found JJ, looking around.

"Sleep well?" Elle asked. JJ tried to rub at her eyes but the restraints kept her from getting far.

"What did you give me?" JJ asked as confidently as she could. Her mind was still fuzzy from the blow she'd received.

"It's not important. How is your head?" Elle replied, sitting on the edge of the bed like she had done before.

"It hurts," JJ answered dryly.

"I'm really sorry about that. It should go away in a few days," Elle apologized. She sounded sincerely sorry.

"The team is going to find me," JJ stated. Elle just smiled in the semi-darkness.

"I would hope so. It's what they do," she said with a little laugh,

"You think this is funny?" JJ croaked, fighting her restraints. Elle placed a firm hand on her shoulder.

"Are you hungry? I could order some Chinese," she offered.

"No," JJ answered immediately. If Elle had drugged her, what would stop her from poisoning her?

"You're going to have to eat eventually JJ. I'm not going to poison you," she answered, as if reading the other woman's mind.

"You certainly didn't have a problem drugging me," JJ argued.

"That…was a formality," Elle retorted.

"Why don't you just tell me what you want," JJ sighed.

"I think you know," Elle answered and started to stand up. JJ wracked her brain but could come up with nothing. Elle didn't seem to be in the mood to help her out any. In fact Elle began head for the stairs. JJ's eyes darted to the table next to her and she spotted the mug. Did Elle really expect her to drink it?

"What if I don't drink it," JJ called. That stopped Elle in her tracks. She turned around and her calm demeanor faltered for a millisecond.

"It's better if you do," she said coolly before starting up the stairs again. She reached the top step and had closed the door before JJ started screaming.

"Help! Someone help!" she shouted as loudly as she could. She wasn't going to lie there and let Elle control her. Elle tried to ignore the tantrum beneath her it finally got on her nerves when it interrupted the book she had picked up. With purposeful steps she walked back downstairs.

"Save your voice," Elle said, her tone taking on the slightest edge of anger. She picked up the mug and moved towards JJ. She turned her face away but that didn't deter Elle in the slightest.

"I told you it would be easier if you just drank it. I didn't want to have to do this," she said as she grabbed JJ's jaw and forced her mouth open. JJ bucked beneath her, trying everything she could to throw Elle off. JJ had underestimated Elle's strength as she forced the mug's contents down her throat. The blackness of unconsciousness wrapped itself around JJ's vision almost instantly.


	4. Wheels are Spinning

**Wheels are Spinning**

Back at headquarters, the team had retired to their respective desks. They couldn't for the life of them even begin to profile the person who had taken JJ. Without any hair or fibers or prints they didn't even know gender of the unsub.

"Hey Morgan," Emily called, rolling her chair over to the edge of his desk.

"Hmm?" he murmured, looking up from his computer screen. He'd resigned himself to playing solitaire. It wasn't productive but it was at least keeping him sane.

"I just had a thought. Garcia said that she found some ex-boyfriends from college. How about we take a trip and talk to them," she suggested.

"It's as good a place to start as any…especially since we have no idea where to start," he agreed, reaching for his keys.

"Hey Hotch. Prentiss and I are going to check out the ex-boyfriends. See if that turns up anything," he called, seeing Hotch walking out of his office.

"Stay in contact," he stated. Reid watched them go and let out a sigh. He couldn't shake the feeling of guilt that had been eating at him all day. He didn't hear footsteps until Gideon spoke.

"You doing ok?" the superior agent asked. Reid looked up at him.

"I just feel so helpless. I mean we have no leads, no place to start. And all the while, who knows where JJ is," Reid began to ramble.

"JJ is strong. She won't make it easy for whoever took her," Gideon tried to reassure the young genius. Part of it was to reassure himself. It seemed as though they were having a string of bad luck with unsubs lately. First Reid was kidnapped and tortured and now JJ had gone missing.

"This must have been how she felt when I went missing," Reid murmured.

"We were all worried about you. But you didn't let him win," Gideon reminded him.

"I wouldn't say that," Reid mumbled. Gideon recognized that this topic was not one Spencer wished to discuss and let it go.

"Keep in touch with Morgan and Prentiss. The minute they know anything, I want to know," he instructed the agent. Reid merely nodded and got on the phone with Emily to let her know to call him if they found anything.

"So where are we going first?" Emily asked as they limbed into Morgan's car.

"Well we've got one guy who lives in DC and another in New York. I vote DC as it's closer," he said.

"You want me to navigate?' she asked.

"Sure," Morgan answered as he pulled onto the highway.

Two and a half hours later thanks to traffic on the beltway, the arrived at the residence of Anthony Pierson. Morgan pulled a halt at the end of the driveway, both agents climbing out. They moved up the front walk and Morgan knocked on the front door. At first there was no response. He knocked again and this time the door was pulled open by a young woman with a small child in her arms.

"Can I help you?" she asked, bouncing the child on her hip.

"We're looking Anthony Pierson. Is he home?" Emily asked.

"Tony! Some people are here to see you," she called. More footsteps resounded inside and a man in faded jeans and a grey tank top appeared behind the young woman.

"Who are you?" he asked.

"I'm Agent Morgan, this is Agent Prentiss. We're with the FBI. We'd like to ask you some questions," Morgan explained.

"Look…I'm late for work. Can this wait until later?" he asked.

"I'm sorry sir but we really need to speak with you now," Emily replied sternly.

"Maybe you just talk to them," the woman said, shushing the child.

"Fine…come in," he said. The woman backed up to allow the two agents in. He led them into the kitchen where they sat. The young woman disappeared upstairs with the child.

"Look…did I do something wrong?" Anthony asked bluntly.

"You tell us," Emily replied, pulling out a picture of JJ and sliding it cross the table to him.

"You know her?" Morgan asked.

"No," Anthony denied.

"That's funny…you dated he in college," he countered.

"Wait a minute…Jenni?" he asked. Emily raised an eyebrow at Morgan.

"Jennifer Jareau," Morgan stated and Anthony nodded.

"Damn, I haven't seen her in years. What's she doing these days?" he murmured.

"She's an FBI agent," Emily answered.

"Well shit. Good for her," he said.

"She's missing," Morgan said coldly.

"And you think I had something to do with it? Hell no. I haven't seen or talked to her since sophomore year of college," he said, standing up.

"I got a fiancé and a daughter, man. Why would I go and do something stupid like that. An FBI Agent for Christ sake," he continued to ramble.

"We're just trying to rule out suspects, sir," Emily assured him as she and Morgan stood up. They let themselves out of the house. Once they were back in Morgan's car, the agents shared a look.

"I don't think he's lying." Emily said. She sounded disappointed.

"I agree. He was surprised to find out she was an agent," Morgan stated.

"Guess we head to New York," she sighed.

"We should call Reid and let him know what's going on," Morgan sighed and pulled out his phone. He dialed Reid's number and waited for the other agent ot pick up.

"Reid," He said.

"Reid, it's Morgan. We struck out with the first boyfriend. We're on our way to New York," Morgan explained.

"I'll let Hotch and Gideon know," Reid stated and the call ended. With a sigh, Morgan pulled the car out of the driveway and maneuvered his way back in the direction of the highway.

Back in Virginia, Reid went in search of Gideon and Hotch. He found them in Gideon's office. He cleared is throat to alert them of his presence. Both agents looked up hopeful.

"They didn't find anything with the first boyfriend. They're on their way to New York," Reid reported.

"Alright. Why don't you go home for a while, Reid? Come back in a few hours with some fresh ees," Hotch suggested. Reid looked apprehensive about heeding his superior's orders. Hotch had given Elle similar instructions during the Fisher King case and that had put her life on the line. Gideon seemed to sense Reid's anxiety.

"As far as we know, this unsub isn't after the rest of u s. Go home," he said firmly.

"Yes, sir," he murmured and went to grab his bag and keys from his desk. As he climbed into his car he didn't want to be alone. He pulled out of the garage and took a left onto the main road. Instead of heading home he headed for Elle's. He pulled some fifteen minutes later and found himself on the front steps, knocking on the front door. It opened after a few seconds.

"Hey," Elle said, looking surprised.

"Hi…" he murmured.

"You're here a little earlier than usual. Is everything ok?" she asked, letting him in.

"Just a case we're working on. Gideon sent me home," Reid answered, trying to keep the bitterness out of his voice.

"And you didn't want to be alone," she stated more than asked. He nodded and they sat on the couch.

"Where's the rest of the team?' she asked.

"Morgan and Emily are out of state doing some interviewing," he answered. He knew he couldn't really discuss the case with her even though that was exactly what he wanted to do.

"Well I was just about to order some Chinese for lunch. Do you want some?" she offered. He gave her a smile and nodded. He caught her in a kiss before she stood up.

"I'll be right back," she said and disappeared from view. She grabbed the phone and dialed the number for the Chinese place down the street. She quickly placed her order and scribbled down the total. As quietly as she could she slipped downstairs to make sure JJ was still out. The blonde's chest rose and fell steadily. Elle couldn't help but brush a lock of hair from her face before heading back upstairs.

"It should be here in about fifteen minutes," she told him, rejoining him on the couch. They shared a sheepish grin before Reid leaned in and kissed her. She wrapped her arms around his neck, pulling him closer. They broke apart only when the doorbell rang. She disentangled herself and grabbed her purse. She exchanged money for the bag of food and shut the door with her shoulder.

"Let's eat," she said.

Miles away, Morgan and Emily had pulled over on the side of the road. They had a map laid out on the hood of the car. Morgan was trying to figure out where'd they had taken a wrong turn.

"We can't be lost," she groaned.

"Well we are. Hopefully not too lost," he sighed, finally finding the road they should have turned off.

"Ok…so we need to go back to here…and take the second exit instead of the first," he said. She helped him fold up the map and climbed back into the car.


	5. Struck Out

**Author Note: The victimology and subsequent profile that will be provided in this story were developed with the aid of SSA Jim Clemente of the BAU stationed in Quantico, Virginia. SSA Clemente is a consultant for **_Criminal Minds_** and wrote the seson 2 episode "Lessons Learned".**

**Struck Out **

Back on the highway, Morgan and Prentiss were sitting in traffic. They were at least now going the right way. Morgan ran a hand over his eyes as he stared at the glaring tail lights.

"You ok?" Emily asked.

"Yeah. Just worried about JJ," Morgan answered. He knew they were all worried about her.

"I know how you feel. I just wish the traffic would move," Emily sighed.

They spent the next hour and forty minutes inching along into the city. They finally cleared the traffic and sped down a side street. Navigating the city took less time than getting to the heart of it.

"Wait, pull over there," Emily said, pointing to a high rise apartment building. Derek maneuvered the car into a spot between two other cars and they climbed out. He pulled out the information Garcia had given them about the second boyfriend.

'Says here he lives in E15," he stated as they walked up the front steps. They headed inside and headed up a few flights of stairs. They reached apartment E15 and knocked. They got no answer. Emily knocked louder and still no answer. Morgan pounded once more, as loud as he could. This drew the next door neighbor.

"Excuse me," she said, sticking her head out of the doorway.

"We're looking for Mr. Aaron Morrissey," Emily said, glancing at the name on the paper Derek was holding.

"Aaron isn't home. He gets in around nine or so. You can find him downtown though. Works in an accounting firm," the neighbor woman explained. They took down the address and headed back down the stairs.

"Do we really want to fight against rush hour traffic?" Emily asked as they reached the car.

"We don't have much choice. We can't really just sit here and wait for him. Besides, I want to give Hotch and Gideon an update as soon as we can," Morgan answered. Emily sighed but got in.

Surprisingly, the two agents hit very little traffic on their way downtown. They arrived at the building around six fifteen. They walked through the front doors and were stopped by two security guards.

"We need to see some ID," one of them said, addressing Emily. Both she and Morgan produced their badges and were allowed to continue on. They took the elevator up to the fifth floor and stopped at the secretary's desk.

"Excuse me, Miss. We need to speak with Aaron Morrissey," Morgan said, flashing his badge as inconspicuously as he could. She pointed them in the direction of Aaron's office. They found him on a phone call. He looked up when he heard the door open.

"I'll call you back," he said and hung up the phone.

"Can I help you?" he asked.

"I'm Agent Morgan. This is Agent Prentiss. We're with t he FBI," Morgan introduced. Morrissey showed for them to take seats.

"What can I do for you, agents?" he asked. Emily pulled out JJ's picture.

"Do you recognize this woman?" she asked. He picked up the photograph and stared at it for a while.

"Looks like Jenni," he said. Morgan and Emily shared a look. Who knew they'd learn a little known fact about JJ because of all of this.

"She went missing. Do you know anything about this?" Emily explained.

"I'm sorry. I wish I could help you but I haven't seen her since college graduation. It…didn't really work out between us," he explained.

"Care to explain why?" Morgan asked. Aaron cleared his throat.

"I suppose it's thanks to Jenni that I realized my…preferences lay elsewhere," he said, tugging on his tie.

"You're sure you haven't had any contact with her since?" Emily pressed.

"I'm sure of it. I think I would remember," Aaron rebutted.

"Thank you for your time. If we have any more questions, we'll contact you," Morgan stated and stood up. Emily followed suit and they calmly and quietly left the office. Neither spoke until they reached the car.

"Well that drive was for nothing," Emily grumbled as they pulled back into city traffic.

"Well…we learned that JJ can turn men gay," Morgan laughed, trying to lighten the mood. He could tell it wasn't working.

"I'll call Reid," Emily sighed and pulled out her phone.

Back in Virginia, Reid was lying down on Elle's couch. They'd finished their Chinese and she'd insisted he at least rest for a while before heading back to headquarters. She'd taken up residence in the chair across from the couch and was reading. She kept a vigilant eye on the beeper on her hip. She knew JJ would be waking up soon and she needed to be certain to cover up her momentary disappearance adequately. Luckily Reid's phone began to ring just as the beeper started to buzz. Spencer stirred and sat up, rooting around for his phone. Elle picked it up off the coffee table and handed it to him.

"I'll leave you to your call,' she said, assuming it was from the team.

"Hello?" Reid said, trying to wake up.

"Reid, it's Emily. We struck out with the second boyfriend too. We're stuck in rush hour traffic so we're not sure when we'll be back," Emily informed him.

"Alright. I'll let Gideon and Hotch know. We'll see you back whenever you get in," h e said and ended the call. Elle was just shutting the door at the bottom of the stairs when he ended the call. She saw JJ looking around.

"How do you feel?" Elle asked. JJ just shut her eyes, trying to ignore Elle.

"I saved some Chinese for you. I'll bring it down in a few minutes," she continued, sitting on the edge of the bed.

"You don't have to talk to me. I understand," Elle said with a small laugh. Elle's tone made JJ look at her.

"You're going to get caught," JJ shot.

"I fully expect to," she said as if they were discussing the weather.

"But let's not think about that right now. I'll be back in a few with lunch," she said and headed upstairs. She found Reid pulling on his jacket.

"I've got to head back," he said, giving her a parting kiss.

"Call me when you get another break," she said, showing him to the door. Once he'd left, she gathered the Chinese food she'd saved for JJ and heated it up.

Reid arrived back at Quantico and found Hotch and Gideon in Hotch's office. He gave them the update from Emil and Morgan. Gideon ran a hand over his hair and looked between the two other agents.

"We need to do something. We can't just spinning our wheels," Gideon said. Reid and Hotch both nodded.

"Let's meet in the conference room. Get Prentiss and Morgan on a conference call. Get Garcia up here," Hotch ordered. Reid reached for the phone in the center of the table and entered Garcia's extension.

"You've reached Penelope Garcia, office of all things known. Speak," Garcia answered.

"Hotch wants you up in the conference room," Reid said.

"Did they find anything?" she asked, sounding hopeful.

"No," Reid replied. Next he got Emily and Morgan on the line.

"Alright. We need to start trying to come up with something useful," Hotch began.

"Well…let's start with what we know," Gideon addressed the team.

"We don't know anything," Morgan stated.

"That's not true. Actually we probably know more than we think we do. We need to treat her like any other victim. We need to do a victimology," Reid interrupted.

"What do you mean?" Garcia asked, looking confused.

"Well…we know that JJ is an FBI agent and has a high profile job," Reid began. He stood up and began to pace.

"We also know that she is highly trained and is security conscious. So that means she wouldn't have just left the door unlocked and let the unsub in," he continued, gesticulating with his hands.

"So what you're saying is, this unsub must have known she was going to be prepared?" Morgan asked from over the phone.

"Yes. She deals with criminals on a daily basis. She's going to be careful," Reid agreed.

"Alright, what else do we know?" Hotch asked.

"Well…her position in the Bureau would make her a low risk victim but in a high risk job," Emily submitted.

"Good. So usually, she wouldn't be a target. We need to figure out what made her one now," Gideon said, his hand clenching into a fist.

"There's one more thing about the victimology," Reid said. The people in the room and on the phone waited with baited breath for what the genius had to say.

"The low risk victim in a high risk position. That makes her at moderate risk for foul play," he explained.

"So in other words we need to find her before the unsub decides she's expendable," Morgan groaned. Reid nodded in response even though he knew Morgan and Prentiss couldn't see. They were now working against the clock to find JJ before something unthinkable happened.


	6. Back To the Start

**Back To the Start**

The conference room grew quiet as they all contemplated what was at stake. Reid couldn't help but feel a shiver run up his spine. How many other times had they had such close calls? They were finally jolted from their thoughts by Morgan's voice coming over the speaker phone.

"Hotch. We're going to try and take some back roads to see if we can get there faster," Morgan said.

"Alright. We'll be here," Hotch answered and the call ended.

Reid looked around the room, feeling very anxious. He checked his watch. It was almost ten o'clock. He quickly did the math in his head and visibly shuddered. Garcia noticed the grimace and placed a hand on his shoulder.

"Guys…we need to work fast. JJ has been missing for almost nineteen hours already," Reid piped up, his voice cracking.

"How do you figure?" Garcia asked, knowing she would not be disappointed by his answer. Reid licked his lips.

"She lives about a half hour away. We left here around two. That would put her home around two thirty. Supposing the unsub was waiting for her she was taken somewhere between two thirty and three o'clock," he explained.

"Which means we need to get back to that crime scene and see if we can put together what happened," Gideon ordered.

"Shouldn't we wait for Morgan and Emily?" Garcia asked, starting to follow Gideon out of the room.

"If we wait until they get back, we'll already be twenty four hours into this mess," Gideon called back to her. She looked between Hotch and Reid.

"I'll let them know where we're going," Hotch assured the techie.

They all piled into one of the large SUV and drove the half hour to JJ's house. Reid kept looking at his watch. He couldn't stand to see the minutes tick by. He knew there was nothing he could have done short of going home with her. When they arrived, the streetlights were dim and the crime scene tape was still criss-crossing the front door. The four agents piled out and slowly walked towards the front door.

"Let's think. Where would the unsub have been hiding?" Gideon asked, looking around him. Reid saw several tall bushes between JJ's yard and the neighbors.

"He could have been hiding in the bushing, lying in wait for her to come home," he suggested.

"But wouldn't the neighbor have seen him?" Garcia asked.

"Not necessarily. He could have hid on JJ's side of the bushes, near the garage, out of view," Gideon answered.

On the highway, Morgan was pressing his foot to the gas pedal as hard as he could. Emily looked up from her phone and over at Derek.

"They went to JJ's. They're going to try and do crime scene reconstruction. They want us to meet them there," she informed him. He nodded, his right hand, moving to flip a switch on the dashboard.

"This will get us there quicker," he told her as sirens began to blare and lights flashed. She couldn't help but smile a little bit as they whizzed by other cars. She could tell they were doing at least seventy if not eighty as they pulled off at the Baltimore exit some twenty minutes later. She had to grip the inner handle of the passenger side door to keep from flying forward as he pulled to a stop at a light.

"Try to get us there in one piece," she gasped.

"We've wasted enough time in a car today, Emily. JJ is counting on us," Morgan stated as the light changed to green and he sped off. It was close to midnight by the time they arrived on scene. The rest of the team had moved into the house and were walking through the rooms.

"They're here," Garcia called from the front door.

"What'd we miss, Mama?" Morgan asked, slightly out of breath.

"We think the unsub might have hidden in those bushes near the garage…waiting for her," Garcia answered.

"That it?" Prentiss asked.

"The front door was locked and her car is still in thee driveway," Reid noted.

"Yeah man, we know all of this," Morgan retorted.

"It probably meant she was coming out when the unsub confront her," Hotch added.

"But why would she be coming out at two thirty in the morning?" Prentiss questioned.

"She could have been going in," Morgan offered.

"Going in isn't consistent. Her wallet and keys are in the house. She would have had them with her coming from the car to the front door," Reid interrupted.

"But it doesn't entirely make sense for her to go out either. She would have taken the keys if she'd left something in the car," he continued, starting pace back and forth. They all looked around at each other for a while before Gideon spoke.

"That means the unsub had to be inside waiting for her," he stated.

"If that's the case he would have had to have been in the house for days with JJ gone," Reid proposed.

"Hey, Emily, come here," Morgan said. Emily gave him a quizzical look but walked towards him.

"Say I'm the unsub. How do I get you out of the house without touching anything and without drawing the attention of the neighbors?" he asked.

"Well we have the exploding coffee pot. Maybe you surprise me in the kitchen?" Emily suggested. They head for the kitchen. Emily poured water into pot and added some coffee grinds. She stood by the coffee pot, her back turned, and Morgan walked at her from the hallway. Emily turned at the sound of approaching footsteps and dropped the pot. The water spilled all over the floor but there were no grinds.

"There would have been footprints in the coffee," Reid noted.

"So maybe the unsub waited until she'd made the coffee?" Morgan asked with a shrug.

"We didn't find any footprints. Try another scenario," Hotch stated from the table.

"Guys, I just remembered. Her phone isn't with her keys and wallet," Reid pointed out.

"So?" Morgan stated.

"When you put your wallet and keys down…don't' you usually put your phone down with it?" the twenty-four-year-old commented.

"Yeah…I guess so," he answered.

"So why isn't it there?" Reid questioned.

"Maybe she wasn't confronted in the kitchen. Maybe it was in the hallway. The unsub could have taken her phone to cut contact," Emily suggested. They all moved back into the hallway.

"So if the unsub confronted her in the hallway, wouldn't she have seen him?" Garcia piped in.

"He could have concealed himself," Gideon answered, pointing to the corner near the door.

"It was dark in the hallway. Probably wouldn't have seen him," he added. Morgan when and stood in the space.

"Something had to draw JJ out here," Hotch murmured. Morgan rocked on his heels and the floor beneath him creaked softly.

"That could be it. JJ comes to see what the noise was and she's confronted with the unsub," Emily said.

"Unsub probably had a gun," Morgan said, raising his hand.

"I reach for my cell phone but you take it away?" Emily proposed. Morgan considered the situation for a minute.

"She could have slid it to him," he supposed.

"Ok so you have the phone now what?" Gideon asked.

"I have to get JJ out of the house without touching anything and leave the door locked," Morgan responded.

"Hang on a minute. What about a getaway car?" Emily asked.

"We could be looking at two unsubs," Hotch said.

"So I've got a buddy waiting for me. I…order her at gun point to walk out the front door, locking it behind her and into my car," he said, walking through the motions.

"It's entirely possible as well that there wasn't a driver. The unsub could have forced to drive at gunpoint," Reid added.

"There's also the possibility that he incapacitated her," Hotch interjected.

"So if I knock her unconscious, I'm going to have to be strong enough to carry her out of the house but still manage to keep the door locked," Morgan murmured.

"What if…Emily can I see your hand?" Reid started. He dragged Emily over to the door. He pushed the screen door open and backed out of the house. Emily went with him.

"What if the unsub used JJ's hand to lock and close the door?" he suggested.

"It would explain the weird positioning of the prints we lifted," Morgan said. Emily and Reid went back into the house and caught Gideon checking his watch.

"It's almost one thirty. Everybody go home and get some sleep. I want everybody back at seven sharp," he said and ducked under the crime tape.

"He can't be serious," Morgan grumbled.

"I don't think there's anything more we can do right now. We all need some fresh eyes," Hotch said. Morgan looked between the three other agents standing with him.

"JJ has been missing for almost a full twenty four hours and they want us to go and get some rest?" he scoffed. One of their own could be close to death by now and they were about to give up on her.


	7. Beg and Plead

**Beg and Plead**

The next morning Elle was up at the crack of dawn. She grabbed a quick shower before heading down to check on JJ. She found the agent still asleep and noticed she shivered slightly. With a small smile, Elle headed upstairs and retrieved a blanket. Just as she covered the blond with the blanket, JJ's eyes opened. She lay there for a minute just staring up at Elle.

"Go back to sleep. It's early," Elle whispered. JJ's gaze flitted downward to see the blanket covering her and she seemed to think about Elle's statement for a minute before opening her mouth.

"What do you want with me?' she asked. It felt like she'd asked that same question a hundred times already.

"I told you. You don't need to worry about that," Elle stated calmly.

"Damn it, Elle. You kidnapped me. You could at least tell me why," JJ shot. Elle merely shook her head.

"You know what you need to know. Just think about it. You can figure it out," Elle answered coolly.

"Now, how do you like you're eggs. You're up so I might as well make some breakfast," she questioned, standing u p. The abrupt change of subject made JJ's brow crease.

"I'm not hungry," JJ lied. She was pretty hungry. After all, she had refused to eat the Chinese earlier…or was it the day before? Being sedated so much was impairing her sense of time.

"JJ, you need to eat. I don't want you to get sic," Elle said in a stern but motherly tone. JJ closed her eyes to try and control her emotions. She knew a part of her wanted to trust Elle. They'd been friends when Elle had been with the BAU. But the more rational part knew that the former agent held a lot of power over her.

"Over easy," JJ finale muttered out of the corner of her mouth. Elle smiled.

"Bacon or toast?" she asked.

"Bacon," JJ answered.

With that Elle headed up to the kitchen to start on breakfast. She flipped the TV on and watched the weather channel. JJ looked around the small room. It looked different in the relative light of the morning. She was definitely in a basement. JJ tried unsuccessfully to try and free her hands from the restraints again. Elle was smart; JJ had to give her that. Twenty minutes later Elle reappeared at the bottom of the stairs. She was holding a tray with two plates of food. She took one plate and set it on the table. Next she propped JJ up with the pillow and placed the second plate in her lap.

"Don't try anything," Elle said simply. From her pants pocket, she pulled out a key and undid the ends of the restraints holding JJ's arms to the headboard. JJ breathed a sigh of relief as she stretched her arms. It was then that she noticed the gun holstered on Elle's hip.

"What are you waiting for?" Elle asked, pointing to the food. JJ slowly picked up the fork and took a bite of egg. She had to admit it was good.

"This has to do with the Lee case, doesn't it," JJ blurted. Elle had to stop eating to keep from spitting it out.

"Is that what you think?" Elle scoffed. She'd expected more from JJ. Had she not been paying attention?

"He's why you left," JJ stated. Elle just shook her head.

"I did what I h ad to do to get a sex offender off the streets," Elle countered. She took a bite of bacon before she continued.

"But I'm afraid you're off the mar," She added.

Elle set her plate down and stood up. She pointed to the tray and JJ handed it over. Her heart jumped a beat when Elle turned around. It fell just as quickly when she spun around reattached the chains to the bed.

"You understand. I can't have you trying to run away. It would defeat the purpose," the brunette explained. Without another word, Elle left JJ alone. She knew that shortly she'd have to administer the sedative but she would let breakfast settle first.

Back at Quantico the team had reassembled in the conference room. It was obvious that none of them had gotten any sleep in the last six hours. Morgan paced back and forth anxious, hands shoved in his pockets. Hotch and Gideon walked in and shut the dor. Someone, probably Gideon, had put a picture of JJ up on the board with all the information they had gathered in the last twenty four hours.

"What are we supposed to do now?" Garcia asked.

"We can't give up, that's for sure," Emily said, her voice laced with determination.

"Hey kid, you have any statistics for this bastard?" Morgan asked. Reid looked up and cleared his throat.

"No. But I think we should contact the media. JJ's been missing for almost thirty hours," Reid mumbled.

"What would we tell them? We don't even have a profile," Morgan argued.

"I think if we make it public that she's missing…maybe set up a tip hotline. We could draw the unsub out," the genius replied.

"It's not a bad idea. But we also run the risk of satisfying the unsub. For all we know, admitting we can't find one of our own agents will make the unsub think he has power over us," Gideon remarked.

"That's a risk I'm willing to take," Hotch stated firmly.

"We can leave out the fact she's an FBI agent," he added.

"Ok. So…we could ask JJ's neighbors if they saw or heard anything," Emily suggested. They all looked around for a minute.

"Here is what we are going to do. Prentiss, you and Reid go interview the neighbors. Talk to everyone on the street. Garcia, go through JJ's case files. Give me names of anyone that we put away that has been released recently," Hotch began to order. He looked at Morgan.

"What about me?" he asked.

"Help Garcia. The fast we can find recent parolees, the faster we can track them down," Hotch replied.

"What about you and Gideon?" Reid questioned.

"We'll do the press conference," the head agent answered. Morgan nodded as he and Garcia headed out of the office. Reid and Emily followed suit, leaving Gideon and Hotch in the room.

"So what do we tell them?" Hotch asked.

"We tell them we have a missing woman and any information will help," Gideon answered pulling out his cell phone. Emily and Reid ended up in her car.

"You know this isn't your fault," Emily stated as they pulled up to a stop sign.

"I know. And we're doing everything we can to find JJ but it feels like we aren't doing enough " Reid sighed as the car lurked forwards past the sign. Emily reached over and placed a hand on Reid's arm.

"She's going to be ok. I have to believe that. JJ is strong and she' not going to give up," Emily reminded him. Reid merely nodded his head as they continued on their way. The remainder of the drive was quiet. Reid's thoughts spun around in his head at a mile a minute. When they finally arrived, they pulled to a stop and looked around.

"So where do we start?" he asked.

"How about with that one," Emily suggested, pointing to the house to the left of JJ's. He nodded and they climbed out. They slowly walked up the stone path to the front door. Reid knocked twice and waited. They could hear faint footsteps until the front door was pulled open by a woman in her thirties. She was still dressed in a thick robe. She stared at the two agents before speaking.

"Can I help you?" she asked. Reid and Emily shared a look. Emily licked her lips as she went fishing for her badge.

Back at the BAU, Gideon and Hotch were walking out to address the small mass of people they'd gathered together. It was as many reporters as they could get there in such short notice. Gideon looked around to make sure that cameras were rolling before he stepped up behind the podium.

"I want to start by thanking you all for coming on such short notice," he said.

Downstairs in Garcia's office, she and Morgan were hunched over several large file boxes. They'd grabbed them out of JJ's office before coming down. They'd only grabbed cases for the last year. It was a start at least. Morgan pulled a handful of folders out of one box and sat down in an office chair. As he flipped through the pages he let out a low whistle. Garcia was typing at rapid fire speed to see if any of the names in the files had been released from prison in the last few months. At the rush of air, she turned around to look at Morgan.

"Let's hope our sicko is in one of these folders," Garcia breathed as her computer beeped, displaying the first batch of results.


	8. Reaching Out

**Reaching Out**

Reid watched Emily pull out her badge and followed suit. The woman was still staring at them expectantly.

"My name is Agent Prentiss. This is Agent Reid, we're with the FBI. We'd like to ask you a few questions," Emily began. The woman leaned a smidge closer to examine their identification.

"Can I…get dressed first?" the woman asked, glancing over her shoulder.

"Ma'am, it's very important," Emily began.

"It's about your neighbor, Jennifer Jareau," Reid interrupted. The woman let out a huff and synched the belt around her waist.

"What about her? She seems like a nice girl. Though she's hardly ever around. Gone for days at a time," the woman explained.

"She's missing," Emily stated.

"Are you sure? I mean she just up and leaves," the woman rebutted.

"We're very sure," Emily answered.

"Where were you two nights ago between two thirty and three o'clock?" Reid asked.

"What? I was sleeping. Where are you going with this?" she snapped.

"We just want to know if you heard anything unusual," he said, trying to stay calm.

"Honey, a bomb could go off outside my window and I wouldn't hear it. I take that Lunesta stuff. Works wonders," she answered. Emily looked crestfallen as Reid thanked the woman for her time.

"We have the whole street to check," he reminded her as they reached the car.

"Maybe we should split up. We could get this done twice as fast," she suggested. Reid could sense the tension in her voice. He couldn't blame her for wanting to get the canvas done faster. They all wanted to find some sort of lead that could bring them closer to finding JJ.

"Ok. I'll take this side. You take that one," he said and the parted ways.

The canvas, despite being split up, took another two hours. Reid was thankful to be knocking on his final door. A man in his late forties opened the door.

"Whatever you're selling. I'm not interested," the man snapped.

"Sir, I'm not selling anything. I'm with the FBI," Reid answered, flashing his badge.

"Oh…sorry," he mumbled.

"Can you tell me where you were two nights ago between two thirty and three o'clock?" Reid asked.

"Waiting for my son to haul his sorry butt back home," the man answered.

"Did you hear anything out of the ordinary? Notice anything unusual happening at that house?" the young doctor asked, pointing to JJ's house.

"Uh…around two thirty I think someone pulled into the driveway. Yeah…I think I t was that car," the man answered, scratching his chin.

"Anything else?" Reid pressed.

"Could have sworn I saw a car parked down a few houses. Navy…black maybe. Couldn't tell what make or model though. It was too dark. About fifteen or twenty minutes later I suppose I heard a car start," he finished.

"Was there any squealing tires? Any noise?" Reid inquired.

"Not that I recall. My son came home about three and I was more concerned with him," the man supplied.

"Alright. Thank you very much," Reid said and headed back to the car. Emily was already in the driver seat.

"Find anything?" she asked as he climbed in.

"The guy that lives in that house said he thought he saw a car a few houses down around 2:30 the night JJ was kidnapped. Blue or black and around 2:45 he heard a car start," Spencer answered.

"The woman two houses up said she thought she might have seen someone walking down the street around that time but she wasn't sure. She was letting her dog out," Emily answered.

"Well it's more than we had before," Reid said calmly. Emily shrugged and started the car.

Back at headquarters. Gideon and Hotch were finishing up the press conference. Gideon had given up standing behind the podium and had started pacing back and forth in front of it.

"Ladies and gentlemen, this young woman's life hangs in a very delicate balance. She is a bright woman with a promising future. If anyone has any information whatsoever, please do not hesitate to call the FBI tip hotline," he said, his hands waving wildly.

"Once again, thank you all for coming," Hotch added. The pair of agents began to walk away when a man in the back called out.

"How long has this woman been missing?" he called. Gideon and Hotch exchanged a look.

"Almost thirty-six," Hotch replied. With that he and Gideon walked away. They heard several other reporters shouting questions but they ignored them. They knew they couldn't give away anymore information. They needed to touch base with the rest of the team and see what they'd found.

"How many more do we have?" Garcia groaned as she leaned back in her chair. Morgan looked up from the box in front of him.

"We're almost done. I just hope this is enough to find the guy," he answered, pulling the last bunch of files from the box. He handed half to Garcia and started looking through files. Most of them contained offenders who would not have been released by now, not even on good behavior.

"I think that part is done. Let's see that list," he said. Garcia hit the print button and a large laser printer rumbled to life to their left. It quickly spit out six pages of names, addresses and parole officers.

"Damn," he breathed as he flipped through the print outs.

"Well it gives us something to work with right? I mean the more names we have the more people we can look into and the sooner we find JJ," Garcia rambled. She knew that Morgan didn't need to hear her ramble on. But it made her feel better. It made her feel productive.

"Come on, let's head upstairs and see where Gideon and Hotch are with the press," he suggested. Together they headed back up towards the conference room. They were intercepted by Reid and Emily.

"Where are Hotch and Gideon?" Reid asked.

"We were just going to look for them," Morgan answered.

"BAU team in the conference room," Hotch called, walking out of his office. Everyone seemed eager to take seats.

"How'd the press conference go?" Reid asked as soon as Hotch had closed the door.

"Well the media knows that JJ is missing. We set up the hotline. We just have to wait and see what we get," Hotch replied.

"Wait…did we tell people her name?" Morgan interrupted.

"Yes. We had to," the agent answered.

"At this point we need to do everything we can to get some answers," Gideon added.

"What did you and Emily find out?" he asked, looking at Reid.

"Not a whole lot. One guy across the street said he was pretty sure he saw a blue or black car a few houses down from JJ's around 2:30. He also said around 2:45 he heard a car engine start," Reid answered.

"Another woman, two houses up from JJ said she thought she saw someone walking down the street around 2:30 but she wasn't really sure," Emily added. Gideon rose and wrote the pertinent information on the whiteboard.

"What about you two?" he turned to Morgan and Garcia next.

"Six pages of recently released prisoners. Names, addresses and parole officers," Morgan answered, slapping the packet of paper down in the middle of the conference table.

"That's a lot of prisoners released from our past caseload," Reid murmured.

"That's' only the past year," Garcia said, looking down at her brightly polished nails.

"It's a start. Split the list up. Call parole officers. See if they've had any parolees fail to report in the last few months," Hotch ordered. Hands flew out to grab paper and chairs scraped back.

"Start with the parolees that live closest to JJ," he called as the team members nearly collided with each other to get out of the doorway.

Reid sat down with his page of names and began checking addresses to JJ's to find the nearest matches. He circled four with a red pen and picked up his phone. He dialed the first parole officer's number and waited for someone to pick up. Finally a receptionist picked up on the other end.

"Hi, my name is Special Agent Dr. Spencer Reid with the BAU in Quantico. I was wondering if you could put me through to Officer Daniels," he said.

"One moment please. May ask what this call I s regarding?" the receptionist answered. Reid gave her the name of the parolee he was interested in.

"Hold on," she said and transferred him through. He had a brief conversation with Officer Daniels. The parolee he was asking about had been on time and prompt for all of his meetings and even came in extra times to demonstrate his commitment to rehabilitation.

"Thank you for your time," Reid said and hung up. Just as he was bout to dial the next number his cell phone beeped, indicating he had a new voice mail message. He looked around him to make sure his co-workers were preoccupied with their own calls before he dialed in his PIN number.

"It's me. Are you free for dinner? Thought you might want to get out of the office for a while," the message said. He ended the call and stared at his phone.


	9. False Sense of Security

**False Sense of Security **

Reid looked at his phone before looking over at Morgan and Emily. Both seemed to be focused on the task at hand. He knew he should finish his calls before he returned hers. Time was after all not on their side. He let out a slow breath and put his cell phone back in his pocket. Right now, JJ had to come first. He called the next number on his list and got a similar story from the parole officer. He hadn't had any real trouble with this parolee and as far as he knew, he worked nine-to-five six days a week. Starting to get aggravated, Spencer dialed the next number.

"Good afternoon, how may I help you?" the receptionist answered.

"My name is Special Agent Dr. Spencer Reid. I'm with the FBI. I need to speak with Officer Rourke," Reid said. He felt almost as if he were a robot.

"What is this regarding?" the woman asked. Why couldn't they just put him through when he mentioned he was with the FBI?

"One of his parolees," Spencer replied. With a click he was transferred over. This time he had more luck.. This particular parolee, Terrance Kelly, had missed the last two parole visits.

"That's great. Thank you," Reid said and hung up. He was about to make his fourth call when Gideon signaled them back to the conference room. They all filed in and sat down.

"Please tell me we have some names," Hotch said.

"I've got one," Reid announced.

"I've got two," Morgan added.

"None so far from my list," Emily concluded.

"Alright…give the rest of the lists to Garcia. She should be able to come up with any other possibilities," Hotch stated.

"In the mean time we need to come up with some kind of profile to compare these names to," he added, looking around at the table of agents.

"Well…we know that the unsub is organized and highly intelligent," Morgan offered.

"I mean…getting to a federal agent the way he did…that takes some skill," he explained.

"Good, what else do we know about this type of offender?" Gideon interjected.

"Given the fact that he left no forensic evidence at the scene and no one really saw him, he has to be forensically savvy. It's not something you can just pick up in prison," Emily noted.

"So he's smart and he's sophisticated. If he did touch anything he was most likely wearing gloves," Gideon said.

"He also had to be physically strong enough to possibly incapacitate her and take her from the scene," Reid inserted.

"Ok, so with someone as sophisticated as this guy, he had to have the have learned her habits," Morgan said.

"Which means he could have been stalking her for months," Reid murmured.

"This abduction wasn't a spur of the moment idea, either. This took great amounts of planning," Gideon reminded them.

"So we're looking for someone who has a really non-intrusive job. Something where he would have a lot of free time," Emily commented.

"What about where he would have taken JJ?" Hotch posed.

"Probably somewhere private where he wouldn't be interrupted or disturbed," Reid answered automatically. Hotch nodded and hit a button on the phone in front of him.

"Garcia, did you finish with the lists yet?" he asked.

"Yeah. Only two others from the entire list missed their appointments in the last few months," Garcia answered. She gave them the final count and information.

"Morgan and Prentiss go and bring them in. Take local uniforms if you need to," Hotch ordered. They jumped from their chairs and rushed out the door. Reid watched them go, staying seated. Gideon noticed Reid's demeanor and sat down next to him.

"You ok?" he asked. Reid looked up at his mentor.

"I just feel helpless. We're doing everything we can but it just doesn't seem like enough " Reid sighed.

"It's understandable, Reid. We've had a lot happen to the team recently," Gideon said. Reid tried to smile and nodded his head.

"I know. I just hope we find her in time," he muttered before getting up.

"He'll be alright," Gideon said, catching Hotch's eye.

Reid headed back to his desk and pulled out his cell phone. He was fairly certain he could return Elle's call without being overheard. He scrolled through his contact list and pressed the 'send' button. It rang a couple times before the other end picked up.

"Hello," Elle said.

"Hi…I…got your message," he said quietly.

"Ok. So do you want to do dinner tonight?" she asked.

"No. We have a case and I can't leave," he answered. He felt guilty about turning her down but he needed to focus on JJ.

"Don't sound so upset, Reid. It's fine. I know you can't just leave whenever you want to," Elle assured him.

"We'll do something this weekend?" he offered.

"Whatever you want," she responded. With that he ended the call.

An hour and a half later, Morgan and Emily had rounded up the five parolees. Three were sitting in chairs outside while the other two sat in interrogation rooms. In the first room, Gideon and Emily were talking to Terrance Kelly. He was in his late twenties and on the skinny side.

"Look…since when do they bring the feds in for parole violation?" he asked, arms crossed over his chest.

"What do you do for a living Mr. Kelly?" Gideon asked, sitting down across from the man.

"What's it matter to you?" the young man muttered.

"Answer the question," Emily said forcefully.

"I work in a nursing home. I clean bedpans and shit," he answered.

"You been skipping work too lately, Terrance?" Gideon pressed.

"No," Terrance answered shortly. Emily pulled the photo of JJ from a folder and slid it across the table.

"Recognize her?" she asked.

"That's the chick that you said was missing. That's too bad. She's kind of hot," he answered with a smirk.

"You live two blocks from her house, Terrance," Emily pressured.

"Whoah? What the hell are you saying?" he asked.

"What are we supposed to think, Terrance? She helped put you away…you the kind of guy who holds grudges?" Gideon asked.

"I don't even know this woman, ok. And no, I don't hold grudges. I know what I did was wrong. I did my time. So let my PO ride me for missing meetings alright. I don't need no damn FBI banging down my door," he shot.

"You're free to go," Gideon said. With that Gideon and Emily walked out of the room. Reid had been watching the interview.

"He's not our guy," Gideon stated immediately.

"He doesn't appear to be able to physically overpower someone JJ's size. And he doesn't have the intellectual sophistication to plan out and execute a kidnapping like this," Reid agreed.

"So let's get the next guy in here," Emily said, heading to usher in the next parolee. Down the hall, Hotch and Morgan were interviewing another parolee.

"Tell me, Peter, how long have you been out of prison," Hotch said calmly.

"About four months," Peter answered.

"I only missed my last meeting because I had to pick my kid up from soccer practice and she was taking her sweet ass time getting her shit together," he added.

"It says here you work as a cashier in a grocery store. You get many breaks on that gig?" Morgan asked.

"No. Look, I worked it all out with my PO. I told him it wouldn't happen again," Peter protested.

"You know this woman?" Morgan asked, throwing JJ's picture at the man.

"No. Should I?" he replied.

"You live three blocks from here. She went missing two days ago. Know anything about it?" Morgan demanded.

"Not really. Look I don't get what this has to do with me," Peter stated. Morgan was about to open his mouth when Hotch stayed him.

"Thank you for your time. You're free to go," Hotch said. Peter stood up and walked out of the room.

An hour later the other three parolees had been interviewed and similar results had appeared. They'd all had offenses unrelated to kidnapping and none seemed sophisticated enough to have pulled the crime off.

"If only we'd pushed harder. Maybe they could have given up an accomplice, the brains of the operation," Morgan grumbled.

"Morgan, we need to accept that none of them were the guy we're looking for," Emily said as calmly as she could. He shook his head in disbelief. It couldn't lead to this. They couldn't hit dead end after dead end. They needed something to give them some ounce of hope that they would see JJ again and she wouldn't be in a body bag.

"JJ has been gone for almost two days and what do we have to show for it? A bunch of dead ends and wasted man hours," Morgan spat. He turned around, his hands balling into fists. With every ounce of emotion he slammed his fist into the nearby wall. He didn't even care that his hand now hurt like hell.


	10. Dropping Hints

**Dropping Hints**

The team looked at Morgan. His knuckles were swelling up and blood was dripping off his fingers. Emily stood up and started to leave the room.

"Where are you going?" Morgan asked.

"Getting some ice for your hand," she replied.

"Forget that. We need to focus on JJ," he shot.

"Sit down, Morgan," Hotch ordered.

"Hotch, I'm fine," Morgan spat. Gideon turned to Emily who was still standing in the doorway.

"Prentiss, go get some ice," he said. She nodded and walked out of the room. Morgan just shook his head as Emily returned. She handed the ice pack to Morgan who placed it gingerly on his hand.

"So what do we do now? We have a profile but none of the suspects fit it. Do we just sit and wait…hoping to get a viable tip?" Reid asked.

"It's all we can do right now," Gideon answered.

"We need to be out there looking not sitting on our asses," Morgan grumbled.

"That's enough. Morgan, go cool off. Take a walk, get some air," Gideon ordered sternly. With a scraping sound, Morgan pushed his chair back and stood up, tossing the ice pack on the table before storming out.

"Tempers are running high. It's understandable. Why don't you two get some rest. We'll call you if we hear anything," Hotch said calmly.

"No offense sir, but I really don't think it's a good idea to leave. We need to be ready at a moment's notice," Emily replied.

"Alright. At least get something to eat," Hotch told her and Reid. They both nodded and headed for the kitchen.

"I'm going to go check on Morgan," Gideon informed Hotch. Hotch nodded and headed back to his office. Just as he sat down the phone began to ring. He picked it up.

"Aaron Hotchner," he spoke.

"Hi honey," Hayley greeted from the other end. Hotch ran a hand over his eyes.

"Is everything ok?" he asked.

"I don't know. You haven't been home all day. What's going on?" she begged. He paused before speaking.

"Honey…JJ has been kidnapped. She's been missing almost two days," he said, his tone soft.

"What? Aaron, oh God. So that's what I just saw on the news?" Hayley gasped.

"We're doing everything we can," he promised her. It was partly to reassure himself as well.

"I'll let you get back to work," she mumbled and hung up. Hotch stared at the phone a minute before placing it back in the cradle. News was definitely spreading. Hopefully that would be to their advantage.

Outside Gideon found Morgan leaning on a railing. Neither of them spoke for a while, just acknowledging the other's presence.

"You doing ok?" Gideon asked. Morgan looked at him, trying to loosen up his fingers but without much luck.

"I don't know. First Reid…and now this," Morgan sighed.

"We can handle it when the victim is a stranger. We're taught to disassociate to an extent. When it gets personal, we lose our objectivity. We let our emotions get in the way," Gideon stated.

"I know I overreacted, man. I'm sorry. I just…I'm frustrated and that doesn't sit well with me," Morgan explained. Gideon just nodded his head in understanding.

"You have every right to angry. This unsub hit hard and where we hurt most. In our interpersonal relationships with each other," Gideon mused.

"Come on. I want you helping Garcia with the tip hotline," he instructed.

"Oh…and put some ice on your hand," he added as an afterthought. He headed back inside and Morgan followed, grabbing the icepack as he went. He reached Garcia's office and walked in. She looked distracted.

"Hey Mama," he said quietly. She jumped a little and turned around.

"Don't scare me like that," she snapped.

"Sorry," he apologized, pulling up a chair.

"So what brings you down here to my humble domain?" she questioned. He held up his bandaged hand.

"I got into a fight with a wall…I lost," he said with a smirk.

"Poor baby," she teased.

"Anything from the hotline?" he asked, sounding hopeful.

"Nothing yet. Most of the tips have been iffy at best," she replied. She could tell he was disappointed.

"We can't give up on her. She needs us," Garcia breathed.

"I know baby girl. I know," he agreed.

Back upstairs, Reid and Emily sat opposite each other, staring at their cups of coffee. Neither had been in the mood to eat. Finally Emily cleared her throat, causing Reid to look up.

"Crazy stuff," she muttered.

"Yeah…seems to be an increasing trend with the team," he added, averting his gaze.

"You can't think like that," she said firmly.

"Can't I? I mean…I can't help but feel this is somehow related to what happened…I can't explain why…but it just feels that way," he rambled.

"Reid, Henkel is dead," she reminded him. He just shook his head and took another sip of coffee.

Miles away, footsteps sounded on the stairs leading to the basement. Elle shut the door behind her and took a seat next to the bed. She'd sedated JJ a few hours ago but she knew the effect would last for shorter lengths of time. JJ's eyes slowly opened and she groaned. This was getting old. Waking up only to get drugged again.

"What do you want now?" she snapped.

"Just thought we'd have a little chat," Elle answered, leaning back in the chair.

"When did you become so damn controlling?" JJ blurted. Elle's face didn't betray any change in emotion.

"I'm not the same person I used to be, JJ. Near death experiences change people," Elle replied calmly. It was the calmness that bothered JJ most. How could Elle be so nonplussed and have committed a crime like this? JJ just shook her head at Elle's response.

"You were a federal agent, Elle. You know this against the law," JJ tried to reason.

"Of course I know what I did was against the law," Elle snorted.

"But I'm prepared to accept the consequences," she added.

"You've turned into one of them," JJ gasped.

"Can you really expect people who face what we faced not to think…just for a second…that could be me?" Elle asked.

"No. I can't. Because I'd never put someone's life in danger…especially not someone I thought was a friend," JJ shouted.

"Friendship is something that involves trust, JJ. And I lost that…" Elle began but trailed off.

"This isn't about Lee…this is about Garner," JJ murmured.

"So you think you've figured me out? Know what's going on then?" Elle hissed.

"Go ahead. Tell me all about it," she continued, arms crossed over her chest.

"I'm not a profiler, Elle," JJ breathed.

"Oh come on, JJ. You spend enough time around them. I'm sure you've picked up a trick or two," Elle taunted.

"You want revenge. You're still angry that Hotch sent you home…that the team abandoned you," JJ stated.

"If I wanted revenge on Hotch, do you think you'd be the one lying in that bed?" Elle asked, having to take several breaths to regain her composure.

"You're closer than you were before but you're not there yet," Elle stated, standing up.

"Why don't you just tell me?" JJ asked.

"Because…I know you're a smart girl, JJ. Deep down you know the reason you're here. You just need to think about it," Elle answered. With that she headed upstairs. JJ tried to wipe her eyes as best she could. She couldn't believe this was happening. Elle had been a good profiler until Garner had attacked her. And how could she be so calm? It didn't make sense. Just then, Elle reappeared, mug in hand.

"I'm not drinking it," JJ stated firmly.

"We've been through this before. It's easier just to take it," Elle said.

"Sedation…isn't that a sign of weakness?" JJ tried.

"JJ, I have you chained to a bed, locked in a room that no one, aside from myself, knows even exists. I'm fairly certain that doesn't denote weakness. Besides, it's merely an added precaution. Now drink it," Elle answered.

"Screw you," JJ spat, pushing the mug away. Elle closed her eyes and took a breath. She needed to stay calm and in control. In one fluid motion, she'd drawn her gun and had it leveled at the side of JJ's head.

"Go ahead and shoot me. You'll get more time for murder," JJ said.

"I'm not going to kill you, JJ. If I wanted you dead, I'd have killed you in your apartment. You know that," Elle said, pushing the mug into JJ's restrained hands. JJ stared into the liquid in the mug and slowly downed it. It tasted different than before. Her vision seemed to blur faster and the darkness enveloped her.

She didn't hear Elle take the mug from her hands and walk upstairs nor did she hear the footsteps returning back down. The next thing JJ was aware of was waking up to find herself alone. She expected Elle to appear but she didn't. It was a small blessing to have woken up and not have Elle standing over her like a vulture. It was then that she looked over and noticed something foreign sitting on the table, just within her reach; a phone.


	11. Cat and Mouse

**Cat and Mouse**

She stared at the contraption for a while, contemplating what it meant. It had definitely not been there before. She would have noticed it for sure. But why was it here now? What was Elle getting at? JJ couldn't deny that every fiber in her being wanted to pick up that receiver and dial 911. But what if Elle caught her? She closed her eyes and looked away, trying to fight the temptation.

"Don't give in to her," she lectured herself. She had to accept that for all intents and purposes, Elle was the enemy right now.

Upstairs, Elle sat reading the business section of the paper. Added to the gun and beeper on her hip was now a little trigger button. She turned the page and scanned the articles. Nothing seemed all that interesting now that she thought about it. Her mind drifted to Reid. Elle knew once the proper hints had been dropped, he would figure it out. She had no doubts about that.

"Soon," she murmured to herself, folding the paper in half.

Back in Garcia's office, Morgan and Garcia were sifting through the tips that had come in. Garcia laid her head down on one of the many keyboards in front of her. She, like the rest of the team, hadn't gotten much rest in the last two days.

"We're not finding anything," she groaned, not bothering to lift her head back up.

"Somewhere in here could be the key to finding JJ," Morgan commented, replaying the last message. The caller was claiming to have spotted a woman fitting JJ's description in a homeless shelter.

"I think we should check this one out. For all we know, she's managed to get away from the unsub and didn't know where else to go," Morgan said. Garcia gave a noncommittal noise. Morgan shook his head and dialed Hotch's number.

"Hey Hotch. We have a possible lead. Caller says they saw someone fitting JJ's description at a homeless shelter. We're going to—" Morgan began.

"You're not going to check it out. I'll go. Keep searching," Hotch said and hung up.

"I punch one little wall and suddenly I'm grounded," Morgan grumbled.

"Look at it this way. You get spend more time with me," Garcia said flirtatiously.

"Can't argue there, sweetness," he teased back.

Hotch walked out of his office and spotted Emily just about to sit down at her desk. He flagged her down and she jogged over.

"We have a possible lead. You're coming with me," he said. She nodded and they headed towards the garage.

"A homeless shelter?" Emily asked once they'd reached the car and had left the garage.

"It's a shot we need to take. If she has managed to get free somehow, it's as good a place as any," Hotch answered, turning a corner with a small squeal of the tires. Emily just looked out the window, silently hoping they were going in the right direction. They arrived at the shelter and climbed out of the car. Just as they approached the front doors, a man in his mid forties stopped them.

"I'm sorry, we're all full," he said. Apparently the suits and sunglasses hadn't given them away.

"Sir, we're not looking for a spot. We're with the FBI," Emily answered.

"You from that unit? The one looking for that missing woman?" the man asked. Hotch nodded.

"Yeah…I just called in…there's a woman…looks like it could be the one you're looking for," he continued, leading them inside. The rows of beds were filled with shabbily dressed people. Despite the poor condition of their clothing, the rest of the facility was clean. The man who'd met them at the door led the two agents to the far corner of the common area. A young woman sat, knees drawn to her chest. Her hair reached just past her shoulders. Emily took a deep breath before placing a hand on the woman's shoulder.

"JJ?" she asked, applying a little pressure to get the woman to turn around. Her head whipped around at lightning speed and Emily's heart fell. It wasn't JJ.

"My name is Samantha," the woman replied.

"We're sorry to bother you, Ma'am," Hotch replied, starting to pull Emily away. The man followed quickly behind them.

"Wait…that's not her?" he asked, sounding anxious.

"No. That's not her," Hotch replied. With that he and Emily headed back to the car.

"I can't believe it wasn't her," Emily grumbled.

"We're going to find her," Hotch reiterated. It was starting to feel like a mantra of some kind. Just as they were heading back toward headquarters, Emily's phone rang.

"Prentiss," she answered.

"Hey Em, it's Garcia. We have another possible lead," the computer tech replied from the other end.

"Alright, give me the location," the brunette said, looking over at Hotch. She pulled out a piece of paper and scribbled down the information from the caller and the location.

"Got it. We'll go check it out," Emily said and hung up.

"I hope this lead is legit," she murmured as Hotch looked at the location.

Back at Quantico, Reid had wandered downstairs and joined Morgan and Garcia. The office was quiet. No one had called the tip line in a while. The lead that Garcia had just given Emily had come in nearly twenty minutes earlier.

"Find anything?" Reid asked, pacing around, looking at the various computer screens.

"We found two possible leads. Hotch and Emily are checking them out," Morgan answered, massaging his swollen hand. Garcia looked at him and gave him a wink.

"You want me to kiss it and make it all better?" she offered, trying not to giggle too much.

"Very funny," Morgan laughed.

"Do we know if the first lead turned up anything?" Reid pressed, his nerves starting to reach their end.

"They didn't say. I'm sure they'll tell us when they get back," Garcia replied. She could sense Reid's anxiety.

The car pulled to a stop outside a park. They spotted a uniformed park ranger and walked up.

"You with the FBI?" he asked. Both Prentiss and Hotch flashed their badges.

"Follow me. We found her about half an hour ago," the ranger said as he led them over to a secluded area of the park. They came upon an unconscious blond woman, her hair obscuring her face. Hotch bent down and brushed the hair from her face.

"It's not her," he said again and stood up.

"You sure?" the ranger asked.

"I'd know one of my own agents damn it," he shot back.

"Whoah, the news never said anything about this being a Federal Agent," the ranger called.

"Because we didn't want to risk the unsub taking drastic action," Emily snapped and followed Hotch back to the car.

"Two false leads. This is like a game of cat and mouse," Emily grumbled as they headed back to headquarters. She pulled out her phone and called Reid, to let him know that they'd struck out on both leads.

"No…there haven't been any more tips," Reid answered, looking distressed as he hung up.

"Nothing," he sighed.

The room was silent as they all stared at the central computer that was collecting audio from the hotline. Every time they thought they had a lead, a direction to go, it turned out to be wrong.

"Guys…the unsub…is in complete control of this investigation," Reid breathed.

"What the hell are you talking about?" Morgan asked.

"Every move we've made, has been forced because of something the unsub did," he said.

"Or didn't do," Garcia added and Reid nodded.

"He's one step ahead of us," Morgan stated.

Back at Elle's, JJ was staring at the phone again. The temptation was growing stronger, especially since Elle hadn't appeared to drug her again. JJ set her jaw and started to reach a hand out when she heard footsteps approaching. She quickly closed her eyes, pretending not to have noticed the device taunting her. Elle appeared, mug in hand. JJ thought about trying to fight her but realized it wouldn't do any good. Elle handed her the mug and she drank obediently. It still tasted different. She half expected Elle to make some comment about the phone but she didn't say a word. She simply took the mug back and returned upstairs. Now was her chance. JJ reached out and grabbed the phone, pulling it out of the cradle. She turned the phone as best she could to reach the numbers and pressed 9-1-1. It rang on the other end for a time or two before someone picked up.

"911, please state your emergency," a woman answered.

"My name…is Special Agent Jennifer Jareau with the FBI," JJ began, her tone slightly slurred.

"Ma'am, are you intoxicated?" the operator asked.

"I need you to get a message to Aaron Hotchner…with the Behavioral Analysis Unit," JJ continued, seeming not to have heard the woman's question. She blinked a time or two and noticed her vision starting to blur.

"I…I'm in…" she tried to explain but something strange happened. She heard a click on the end right before she blacked out, the phone falling from her grip and clanking against the leg of the table.


	12. So Close Yet So Far

**So Close Yet So Far**

"Ma'am, are you still there?" the operator asked. She received no response from the other end and slowly ended the call. The message seemed strange but she would do her best to honor it. She picked up the phone and dialed the number for Quantico.

"My name is Marilyn with the Virginia Emergency call center. I need to speak with an Agent Aaron Hotchner. It's urgent," she said once someone picked up on the other end. She was told to wait and the line clicked, signaling she was on hold. The line clicked again.

"I'm sorry. He's not in right now," the person on the other end replied. Marilyn thought for a minute.

"I just received a call from a Special Agent Jareau. Do you have anyone I could send the audio and transcript to?" Marilyn asked.

"Penelope Garcia," the person on the other replied immediately.

"I'll get it to her right away," Marilyn said and hung up. With a steadying breath she searched for Garcia's email address and sent the files.

Back at Quantico, one of Garcia's many computers beeped loudly, signaling she had a new message waiting for her. The noise made both Reid and Morgan look up.

"What is it?" Morgan asked.

"Email," Garcia replied, trying to figure out which of the monitors had made the sound. Once she'd found it, she pulled up the message and scanned it. The body of the message read 'I received this call ten minutes ago. I believe you need to hear it. It will help you'.

"Click the audio," Reid said. Garcia moved the mouse over the attachment and opened it.

"_911, please state your emergency."_

"_My name…is Special Agent Jennifer Jareau with the FBI."_

"_Ma'am, are you intoxicated?"_

"_I need you to get a message to Aaron Hotchner…with the Behavioral Analysis Unit."_

"_I…I'm in…"_

The three agents just stared at the screen, not believing their ears. It couldn't really be real, could it?" Morgan swallowed a few times before he found his voice again.

"Play it again," he said. She hit the play button and the short conversation played again.

"It's her," Reid rasped.

"Guys…that means she is still alive," Garcia whispered.

"Go get Gideon. See if Hotch and Emily are back yet. They need to hear this," Morgan ordered. Reid rushed from the room and headed up to find Gideon.

"Gideon," Reid called, finding him in the kitchen.

"Get something?" Gideon asked, sounding hopeful.

"A 911 phone call…it's JJ," Reid said. Gideon put down his coffee mug and nearly bowled Reid over to get through the doorway. Just as he entered the bull pen area, Hotch and Emily walked in.

"Conference room," Gideon ordered. Emily raised an eyebrow at Reid but did as she was told. Garcia and Morgan were waiting in the room, a laptop computer set up with the audio of the phone call ready to play for the rest of the team.

"What's going on?" Emily asked, sitting down.

"I got this email a few minutes ago from a Virginia 9-1-1 operator," Garcia replied and hit the play button again. The conversation played and Emily stared in shock.

"It's JJ," she breathed.

"So we know she's alive," Hotch stated.

"She sounded drunk," Morgan commented.

"The operator even asked if she was intoxicated," Reid added.

"She wanted to get a message to you," Garcia said, looking at Hotch.

"I wonder what it was," Reid mumbled.

"So what does this give us?" Gideon asked the team.

"We know that as of about fifteen minutes ago, JJ somehow got access to a phone and made a 911 call which means she is alive," Emily answered. She knew there was a possibility that the proper tense was the past. But she couldn't bring herself to say it.

"Is there any indication that she could…" Hotch began but couldn't finish the sentence. It wasn't needed. The rest of the team knew what he was trying to ask.

"The call ended abruptly," Morgan offered.

"She was mid-sentence but it wasn't like she was gagged. We would have heard that," Reid added.

"Maybe she was drugged? I mean her speech was slurred," he contemplated aloud after a minute.

"If you listen real closely you can a faint click in the audio. Like the phone got cut off," Garcia noted.

"Maybe the unsub found her on the phone and cut the connection," Morgan suggested.

"I think we need to keep in contact with the Virginia Emergency center. Get a trap and trace on their lines, initiated if JJ calls back," Gideon stated.

"You think she'll call back?" Garcia asked softly.

"I have no idea but it's the best lead we've had in two days," Gideon answered, walking out of the room. The rest of the team exchanged a look.

"Reid, can you and Garcia sit on the trace/' Hotch questioned. The young agent nodded and he and Garcia headed back downstairs. Hotch just gave Morgan a nod and headed back to his own office.

"Want to grab a cup of coffee?" Emily asked. Morgan stood up and they headed to the kitchen. It wasn't entirely private but it was a respite from the rest of the building.

"How's your hand?" she inquired, pouring two cups of coffee.

"It's alright. Hearing that audio clip…" he answered, trailing off as he accepted the cup.

"Sent chills down my spine. It's the closest we've come to finding anything actually useful," Emily stated.

"But at least we know she's alive," he agreed.

"Do we really know that though? There are a million reasons why that call ended the way it did," Emily said.

"I don't mean to be morbid or the pessimist but we will need to face the fact that she might…be severely injured now," Emily continued.

"I need to believe that is alive," Morgan snapped. Emily backed off. She knew his was close to JJ, closer than she herself was.

"You're right. We can't help her if we think she's hurt," Emily mumbled.

JJ woke up again and found herself in a very uncomfortable position. Her arm was hanging at an odd angle, the restraint starting to rub her wrist raw. She groaned and tried to roll over to get in a more comfortable position. She looked to her left and saw the phone had been placed back in the cradle. She didn't remember doing that. She tried to concentrate, to figure out what the last she remembered was. She definitely made the call to 911 and had talked to someone. She didn't notice Elle sitting in a chair a few feet away.

"Hungry?" Elle asked, startling JJ.

"Can't you just leave alone?" JJ spat.

"Well it's starting to get late and I thought you might be hungry so I made ramen," Elle replied, essentially ignoring JJ's comment.

"You can cook bacon and eggs but the best you can do with real food is ramen?" JJ laughed.

"Well…the last time I asked what you wanted to eat you didn't answer," Elle replied.

"You're losing control, you know," JJ murmured as Elle moved closer.

"Am I? How so?" Elle asked, leaning closer, looking intently at JJ.

"I called 911," the blond stated.

"You couldn't have made that call without me giving you the means to do it," Elle said calmly.

"And I'm pretty sure you didn't get very far," she added, tapping her fingers on the edge of the bowl in her lap.

The two women looked at each other for a while without speaking. JJ was trying to figure out what Elle wanted from all of this. She didn't want the team to find her yet she kept a phone within reach and wasn't surprised that JJ used it. Elle finally stood up, accepting that JJ wasn't going to eat and took the bowl upstairs. JJ knew it would be only a matter of minutes before Elle came back to drug her. She needed to act fast. For the second time she grabbed the phone and dialed 911.

"911, please state your emergency," a different operator stated from the other end.

"My name is Jennifer Jareau. I'm a Special Agent with the FBI," JJ said as quickly as she could. There was a flurry of sounds on the end before the operator spoke again.

"What is your emergency?" the operator asked.

"I'm being held captive. I need you to get a message to SSA Aaron Hotchner or SSA Jason Gideon. I'm being held by—" JJ started but heard a click. The same sound resounded on the other end. The operator looked over his shoulder. The team had moved into the small space available in the Emergency call center. He shook his head and hung up the phone. Hotch looked at Garcia.

"Did you get a location?" he asked, his voice strained. She shook her head in the negative.

"The call wasn't long enough. It could only narrow it down to a general area," she answered.

"How general are we talking?" Morgan asked. Garcia looked at the map in front of her.

"I managed to get it down to the street but not a specific place," she answered. She looked at the area that the trace had pinpointed and felt a chill run up her spine. They were so close but it felt so far away.


	13. Heart Stopping

**Heart Stopping**

No one moved for a moment, just letting it sink in. They were getting closer to finding JJ than they had been in the last 2 days. Morgan caught sight of the clock on Garcia's computer. He hadn't realized they'd already hit the morning of day 3. Finally, Hotch snapped them all from their daze.

"Let's go," he ordered. The team complied, scrambling from the room and heading to their cars. They piled in and Morgan jumped on the phone with Garcia..

"Hey beautiful, can we have that street name again?" he asked. Garcia checked the map and read it off to him.

"Thanks," Morgan stated and was about to hang up.

"Bring her home safe," Garcia murmured. Morgan inclined his head before ending the call.

"He looked behind him to see Gideon on his phone, alerting local police to meet them on scene. He hoped they weren't too late. He could still hear that click in his head. It meant whoever was holding her captive had found out again.

"You know…getting a call from her one time…that's luck. But getting a second call…well I don't know what that is," Morgan sighed.

"It's like the unsub knew JJ was calling for help," Reid murmured.

"If the unsub knew she was using a phone, why not take the phone away?" Hotch asked as he paused at a stop sign. No one answered for a long time. Finally Emily spoke.

"What if…he wanted her to call the police?" she suggested.

"A way for him to brag about kidnapping her," Gideon breathed.

"But the unsub was clever enough to cut the call before JJ was able to reveal who he was," Reid noted.

"We're going to search every house on that street until we find her," Hotch said, a tinge of anger in his voice.

Back at Elle's, JJ stared at the phone, a scowl on her face. She had been so close. She heard footsteps approaching and slammed the receiver back down. She didn't know how but she knew Elle had cut her off. The door at the bottom of the stairs opened and Elle walked in. She looked pissed but she shut the door quietly.

"Nice trick," JJ commented.

"Have to keep them on their toes, don't I," Elle stated.

"Come to drug me again?" JJ snapped.

"No. We have something to discuss before they get here," Elle answered.

"No, I don't know what demented plan you came up with," JJ countered.

"Yes you do, JJ. You just don't want to admit it," Elle snapped.

JJ wracked her brain, trying to figure out what could have set Elle off. It wasn't about the Lee case or Randall Garner. Those were the only cases that JJ could think of relating to Elle's time with the Bureau. She closed her eyes and let out a breath. Then it dawned on her. She let out a gasp as it hit her like a ton of bricks. It didn't involve Elle at all.

"Reid," she rasped.

"See I knew you could figure it out," Elle said with a small smile. JJ looked Elle straight in the eye.

"But…that happened after you left. How could you…" JJ started to ask but Elle cut her off.

"How could I know about it? For a bunch of highly trained profilers, you can't see what's right in front of your face," Elle sighed.

"What are you talking about?" JJ questioned, her heart starting to beat faster.

"How couldn't you see what he was doing to himself?" Elle asked, fighting back her emotions. JJ averted her gaze. They'd all noticed something was wrong with Reid after the Henkel incident but after a while he seemed ok.

"He is fine now," JJ murmured. Elle just shook her head and turned her back on JJ. She wiped tears from the corner of her eyes. She needed to keep her composure. She couldn't break down I n from of JJ.

"So if this is about Reid, why am I here?" JJ questioned.

"Because you were stupid. You should have known better," Elle said, her voice cold.

"You're blaming what happened on me? I wasn't the one who said we should split up," JJ argued.

"That doesn't matter. You should have known better than to let him go alone," Elle replied, trying to keep her voice even. JJ could tell this was making Elle mad and she wasn't sure what Elle would do if she got too angry. With that, Elle stormed upstairs.

Not far away wheels squealed on the pavement as several police cars stopped on the street. The black SVU transporting the team stopped as well and everyone jumped out.

"Spread out," Hotch called.

"Aren't we going to need search warrants, Sir?" Emily asked.

"JJ's life is at stake. Right now, I don't care about search warrants," Hotch answered, heading to the first house on the left side of the street. Emily caught Morgan's eye and he just shrugged.

Hotch reached the front door and banged loudly. Footsteps echoed from within and it was pulled open by a woman in her late thirties.

"Can I help you?" she asked.

"Federal Agents," Hotch said and pushed passed her. Several police officers followed him.

"Excuse me! Do you have a warrant?" she snapped.

"Ma'am, please step outside," Hotch ordered and one of the officers escorted her out. They checked every room in the house. Shouts of 'clear' echoed from every direction. Outside, Emily had taken over standing with the woman.

"What is going on?" she asked, looking around to see her neighbors being ousted from their homes as well.

"We're searching for a missing woman who made a 911 call from a house on this street," Emily responded just as Hotch and the officers walked out.

"Nothing," he told Emily.

"Thank you for your cooperation," he addressed the homeowner.

"You really think there's a missing woman here?" she asked.

"Yes, Ma'am we do," Hotch replied.

"Do you know something?" Emily probed.

"Well…we are all pretty friendly on the block. I think we would have noticed," she answered. Hotch merely nodded and let her return inside. They caught up with Gideon and Reid.

"Nothing on the entire right side of the street," Gideon reported. Reid looked around him, taking off his sunglasses. Something seemed familiar to him but he couldn't put his finger on what it was.

"Keep looking. She's got to be here somewhere," Hotch called to the surrounding officers.

Back inside Elle's house, she peered out the front window. She smiled a little as she headed for the dining room. She pulled open the drawer of the small desk and pulled out JJ's cell phone and the battery. Carefully she put the battery back in and turned it on. Outside, Morgan's phone began to ring.

"Morgan," he answered.

"JJ's cell just turned on. I'm tracking the GPS right now," Garcia said excitedly.

"Garcia's got a trace on JJ's cell. It got turned back on," Morgan called to he rest of the team. They all rushed towards him.

"Tell me you've got a location, Garcia," Morgan begged.

"Just one more minute," Garcia said. She let out a groan.

"What?" Morgan demanded. It shut off again. But…I managed to get a lock on it before it went off. It came from the last house on the left," Garcia replied.

"You are amazing," Morgan complimented and hung up.

"We've got her. Last house on the left," he said and began sprinting down the street. Reid too a closer look at the street numbers and a light when off in his brain. He knew why this looked familiar.

"Guys, wait!" he called after the team but they didn't listen. Biting his lip he raced after them. Morgan got to the door first and took a running lunge at it. It creaked but didn't open.

"Stand back," Hotch said and kicked the door in. The team rushed inside and began checking the house.

"Living room is clear," Emily called.

"Bedroom and bathroom too," Hotch replied. Morgan slowly moved into the kitchen. He found Elle with her back to him, emptying the dishwasher.

"Don't move," Morgan ordered. She continued putting cups in the cabinet to her left.

"I said don't move," Morgan repeated. His shouting had drawn the rest of the team into the small space.

"Turn around slowly," Emily called. Elle stopped what she was doing.

"Make up your minds," she said, turning around nonetheless.

"What the…" Morgan choked out.

"Elle?" Reid gasped.

"I'd appreciate if you would put those away. You could hurt someone," Elle said, eying Morgan and Emily.

"What the hell is going on?" Hotch asked.

"Where is she?" Morgan snapped, taking a step closer. Elle didn't answer him.

"We know she's here. Where the hell is she," he repeated, gun still leveled at her chest. Reid watched in silence, trying to think of where JJ could be. He knew this house inside and out…or he thought he did.

"She's safe," Elle finally answered. She could tell Morgan was livid, his fingers itching to pull the trigger.


	14. Got A Hold On Me

**Got A Hold On Me**

"Safe?" Morgan spat.

"I'm going to ask you one more time. Where is she?" he hissed. It was then that he noticed the collection o n her belt. She still didn't answer his question. She looked over at Hotch and Gideon. They stood off to the side, watching.

"If I were you, I'd disarm me first, Morgan," she said coolly. Morgan looked over at Emily and she reached out and grabbed the gun, beeper and trigger button. She tossed the small collection onto the kitchen table.

"You must be Prentiss," Elle commented. Elle leaned on the edge of the counter, arms crossed over her chest. Emily just stared at the woman in front of her. She seemed so sane and calm. It didn't make sense that she could have done this.

"Elle, please just tell us where JJ is," Reid begged. She looked at him, his hands shoved in his pockets. She unfolded her arms slowly and pointed to the door next to Emily.

"You'll need this," she stated, reaching in her pocket and handed the key to Reid. He took the key, letting their hands touch a second longer than necessary.

"Morgan, go with him," Gideon ordered. Tentatively, Morgan holstered his gun and followed Reid down the stairs.

With two of the agents out of the room, Hotch and Gideon moved closer. Emily still had her gun in her hand, not sure what to make of the situation. Why had Elle given up JJ's location so easily?

"Well, are you going to arrest me, Hotch?" Elle asked.

"I think you know that answer. I let you go last time. I'm not doing it again," Hotch answered.

"I wouldn't expect anything less," she said with a smirk. No one moved.

"What are you waiting for? I'm guessing you don't want me here when they bring JJ up," Elle commented.

"Oh, I'd call an ambulance just to be safe," she added offhandedly. With that she started to walk towards the doorway between the living room and the kitchen.

"Hold it right there. Where do you think you're going?" Emily called, raising her weapon.

"Well I was going to find someone to cuff me seeing as none of the three of you seem to be taking any decisive action," Elle answered rudely. Glaring, Hotch pulled a set of cuffs from under his jacket and pushed her against the fridge.

"Elle Greenaway you are under arrest for the kidnapping of a federal agent," Hotch began but Elle interrupted him.

"Don't bother Mirandizing me. I know my rights and I waive them," she interrupted.

"Get her out of here," Gideon sighed. Hotch dragged her out of the room, leaving Emily and Gideon alone. She put her gun back on her belt and looked at Gideon.

"That was the agent I replaced?" she asked, sounding clearly surprised.

"Yeah," was the only response Gideon gave.

Downstairs, Morgan and Reid pushed open the door at the bottom of the stairs. Both had their guns raised just in case. As the door swung on its hinges, they spotted JJ lying on the bed.

"Oh God, JJ," Reid called, crossing the room in two strides. She opened her eyes.

"Reid?" she asked, not believing he was actually there.

"The key," Morgan prompted him. The younger of the two pulled the key from his pocket and began to unlock the restraints on her hands and then her ankles. JJ slowly sat up and rubbed her wrists.

"How?" she asked, not making any moves to get off the bed.

"We got the 911 calls," Reid answered.

"Garcia managed to trace your cell to here," Morgan added. JJ felt a shiver run up her spine and she visibly shivered. Morgan pulled off his jacket and wrapped it around her shoulders.

"You're going to be ok," he whispered, helping her stand up.

"She blames me," she mumbled, looking at Reid. He didn't respond. All he cared about right now was getting JJ to the hospital. Slowly the threesome made their way back up the stairs. JJ had to blink several times when the morning light hit her pupils. Emily looked at JJ and gave her a weak smile. They heard sirens outside and continued through the house and outside. Several of the other occupants of the street had come out to see what had happened. JJ caught sight of Elle being driven off in a squad car.

"Easy," one of the paramedics said as Reid and Morgan eased JJ onto the stretcher.

"I'll ride with her," Gideon offered and climbed into the ambulance once JJ had been loaded in. The doors shut and the bus quickly sped away.

In the ambulance, JJ looked over at Gideon. She could tell he was on edge. She reached up and pulled the oxygen mask down.

"I didn't think you'd get my messages," she said softly.

"Ma'am, you need to keep that on," the paramedic said. JJ rolled her eyes but put it back on. Gideon reached over and squeezed her hand.

"We got them. There was no way we were going to let you down," he answered. She smiled, closing her eyes. Despite being drugged for so long, she was genuinely tired.

As the ambulance sped off, Hotch joined Reid, Morgan and Prentiss. None of them spoke for what seemed like hours. Finally Hotch broke the silence.

"Search the house," he said. Morgan and Emily started back to the house. Reid lingered for a minute before joining them. He walked straight up to the desk in the dining room and pulled open drawers. He found JJ's cell phone easily. He still couldn't believe that JJ had been here the entire time, literally right under his nose.

"Didn't find anything," Emily reported.

"I think the only thing she took was JJ's cell phone," Reid murmured, holding the device up.

"I can't believe she did this," Morgan spat.

"Neither can I," Reid agreed, feeling suddenly very uneasy.

"It was weird. She told us to call an ambulance. It's like she was worried about JJ or something," Emily commented as they headed for the SUV.

"Yeah well to me it looked like she was making it pretty clear that she didn't give a damn," Morgan rebutted.

"Where are we heading?" Reid asked of Hotch once they'd all climbed in.

"The hospital. Elle's being taken down to the station," he answered.

The drive to the hospital was silent as was the ride up in the elevator. They found Gideon sitting bedside, a nurse hooking up an IV.

"What's in that?" JJ asked, eying the pole nervously.

"It's just a mild sedative," the nurse answered.

"Get that away from me. I've been sedated enough thank you," JJ shot, jerking away from the woman.

"She doesn't need to be sedated," Gideon stated and nurse walked out of the room. She passed the team as they entered.

"How are you feeling?" Emily asked.

"Really tired and hungry," JJ answered.

"What day is it?" she asked suddenly.

"You've been missing almost two and a half days," Hotch answered.

"God it felt like forever," she murmured. She was avoiding looking at Reid. She couldn't help but feel like it was her fault that he got kidnapped that night. She'd certainly blamed herself at the time.

"She seemed calm. She turned herself in, waived her rights," Emily informed Reid and Morgan.

"What did she do to you?" Morgan asked, his voice laced with more anger than he intended.

"Aside from kidnapping me and chaining me to a bed? Let's see, bought me Chinese, made me breakfast and ramen," JJ recounted.

"What?" the team asked collectively.

"Yeah, she kept telling me I needed to eat. I swear she was trying to poison me," JJ answered.

"Whoah, hang on. She was feeding you but kept you chained up. What kind twisted logic is that?" Morgan questioned. JJ just did her best to shrug.

"Could you tell what she was drugging you with?" Hotch asked.

"No. But the last couple of times it definitely tasted different. I couldn't really figure out what about it was different but it was," she rambled.

"Do you have any idea why she kidnapped you?" Gideon asked gently. Reid, took a step back.

"She told me that…she blamed me for what happened to Reid…the Henkel case," she admitted, not making eye contact with anyone. At that moment she felt as though Elle was right in accusing her.

"JJ it wasn't your fault," Emily tried to reassure her.

Just then a man in a white coat walked in and looked around. He was holding a clipboard. Everyone turned to look at him. He nodded at each of them.

"How are we doing in here?" he asked.

"Tired but alright," JJ replied.

"I just got your toxicology reports back. You've got high levels of a mixture of Acetaminophen, Dextromethorphan HBr and Doxylamine succinate in your system," he said, looking at JJ.

"In English please," she said.

"That's the chemical composition of Nyquil," Reid interpreted.


	15. Not The Only One That Hurts

**Not The Only One That Hurts**

"Wait a minute; she drugged JJ with sleep medicine?" Morgan asked.

"It appears so," the doctor answered. JJ ran a hand through her hair.

"So that's what it was," she mumbled to herself.

"There were also traces of regular alcohol as well," the doctor added, flipping through the papers on the clipboard.

"We'd like to keep her overnight to make sure the rest of the Nyquil is flushed from her system,' he concluded and walked away.

"So…it started to wear off too soon so she spiked it," Hotch stated, looking angry. How could Elle have done this. Then again, he knew deep down what she'd done to Lee.

"She had every opportunity to kill me," JJ began.

"She didn't," Gideon interrupted.

"She kept telling me she didn't want to hurt me," JJ finished, looking down at her hands.

"Get some rest. We'll be back later," Hotch said and led the team out of the room. Reid was the last to leave. He quickly glanced back at JJ. Her eyelids were already drooping.

The team walked down the hallway and took the stairs to the garage. As they climbed into the SUV, Reid couldn't help but think about one thing JJ had said. She'd had Chinese. His heart stopped for a minute. That's why she'd ordered it.

"Reid….Earth to Reid. Anybody in there?" Morgan called, snapping his fingers in front of Reid's face.

"Huh?" he mumbled.

"You ok man?" he asked.

"Yeah. Just tired," he answered. The remainder of the ride back to headquarters was silent. No one was looking forward to what came next. They dispersed in the bull pen, all heading for their desks. Hotch walked into his office and jumped silently when he saw Hayley sitting there with Jack.

"Honey, what are you doing here?" he asked, putting his badge and sunglasses on the desk. He bent down and picked up his son.

"I was getting worried," she admitted.

"We found her. She's ok," he said and his wife breathed a sigh of relief.

"Thank God. And you…caught the person who did it?" she asked.

"Yes…it was a woman," Hotch murmured, bouncing the child on his hip.

"What?" Hayley asked.

"Honey…it was Elle," he told her. Hayley gripped the arms of the chair she was sitting in. She didn't know what to say to that. She knew that Elle had left the Bureau but Aaron couldn't go into detail.

"We need to do some things here. Why don't you take Jack home? I'll be home as soon as I can," he promised, kissing her quickly as he handed the child back to her. Hayley slowly stood and walked out of the office. Emily caught sight of her and looked over at the rest of the team.

"Probably just family stuff," Morgan said. Just then Garcia appeared. Morgan was on his feet in seconds.

"She's ok. We got her," he told her.

"No one told me anything…" she trailed off.

"Mama, you're not going to like how this ends," Morgan whispered. He filled her in on who the unsub was. Garcia's face contorted in shock. Neither of them spoke for a while. Garcia was still trying to digest the information she'd been given. She should have figured it out…done a search on who owned the house.

"Guys, conference room now," Hotch called. As if in slow motion the team began to trudge back to the conference room.

"We need to figure out how we're going to handle this interrogation," Hotch began once the team had assembled.

"She's trying to force our hand. Do it her way," Gideon added.

"Well…I could interrogate her," Emily offered. She didn't have nearly the conflict of interest the rest of the team had.

"It could work," Hotch agreed.

"She's smart. She thinks like we do. Keep your guard up," Gideon reminded her. Emily nodded and stood up. She moved to the door and looked back over her shoulder.

"Don't I get a little moral support?' she asked, trying to smile. Gideon nodded and they followed her down to the interrogation room. Elle sat on one side of the table in the small room. She looked calm and unperturbed by her surroundings. Emily took a deep breath and walked in. Without a word she took the seat across from Elle. Elle slowly looked up at the woman across from her.

"They send you in here because you don't know me?" Elle asked. Her tone conveyed no emotion.

"I don't see why that has anything to do with this," Emily countered.

"Save yourself the trouble, Prentiss. Let one of them do this. I'm sure Morgan would love a piece of me," Elle said, a small smile crossing her lips.

"Excuse me?" Emily asked. What was Elle trying to do? Outside the rest of the team watched, confusion on many of their faces.

"She's trying to take control of the situation," Gideon noted.

"Maybe we should give her what she wants," Morgan suggested. He couldn't deny that he did want to take a crack at Elle.

"Alright. Go," Hotch said. Morgan pulled open the door and Emily stood, suddenly very thankful that someone else would be dealing with this woman. Once the door had closed Morgan rounded on Elle.

"What the hell happened to you?" he demanded. Elle leaned back in her chair.

"What happened? Let's see. I was shot. There's something right there," she answered coolly.

"But I'm guessing you want me to tell you what my stressor was," she added.

"You kidnapped a Federal Agent, Elle. You're not getting away with it," Morgan spat.

"Who says I was going to get away with it, Morgan?" Elle countered. She looked down to see his bandaged hand.

"Get a little angry? Lose a fight with a wall maybe?" she asked, trying to keep the bemusement out of her voice.

"Oh and before you take any guesses, this doesn't have to do with Randall Garner or William Lee. JJ learned that rather quickly," she stated. Morgan glared at her. She had the upper hand and he could feel the pressure building on his shoulders. This wasn't the way it was supposed to go.

"Why'd you do it then," he asked, trying to calm down.

"You know why. I'm sure JJ already told you. How is she doing? Getting enough hydration?" Elle answered.

"Don't you dare act like you give a damn about her. You put her life in danger," Morgan ground out.

"Her life was never really in danger," Elle rebutted.

Back outside, Gideon watched the exchange closely. His mind whirred, trying to figure this out. It had been about Reid. He suddenly knew what was going on. He pulled Reid aside and looked at him.

"How long?" he asked.

"What?" Reid murmured.

"How long have you and Elle been involved?" he expounded. Reid looked at his shoes.

"A year," he answered.

"I just…I just don't understand why she would do this," Reid rasped. He was doing his best to keep the tears from coming. He couldn't lose it in front of the team. They'd ask too many questions that he didn't want to answer. With that he walked out of the room. Emily was about to go after him when Gideon stopped her.

"Let him go," he told her. He looked back through the window to see Morgan stand up and storm out.

"I can't deal with her," he spat. Gideon walked in and took Morgan's seat.

"Come to try your hand?" she asked.

"You really cared about him didn't you," Gideon said calmly.

"Yes. And you know what…you stood by and did nothing while he slipped away day after day," she answered, her tone taking on a hint of emotion now.

"He's doing fine now," Gideon countered.

"Physically maybe. But not psychologically. I tried to make him stop and he ignored me. And what did you do? Nothing!" she shouted at him. The sudden burst of emotion made Gideon jump a little.

"You can't make him listen so you go and kidnap JJ? Is that it?" he asked.

"No Jason. That's not it. JJ is just a part of it," Elle answered.

"She should have known better than to let him run off on his own," she continued.

"You knew we'd find her," he said.

"Of course I did. I let you find her when I wanted to. You took steps forward only when I left the hints. Face it Jason. I was in control of the entire situation," she hissed.

"Yes you were," he conceded.

"Tell me….how close were you with the profile?" she asked, her tone less abrasive now. He didn't answer her. Instead he stood up and walked out. He pointed to the paper.

"Write it all down " he told her. She shot him one last look before pulling the paper to her. He walked out and looked at the rest of the team.

"She was testing us. Seeing if we could profile her without a shred of evidence," he said and she nodded.

"Are you kidding me?" Morgan spat.

"She blamed us for not helping Reid handle his demons after the Henkel incident. So she had to test us. To see if we could still accurately identify her," Gideon explained. The team just shook their heads. This was all too much. It was bad enough they had nearly lost a team member…again. They didn't need to find out that it had all been a test. Gideon went in search of Reid, finding him outside, leaning on a railing.

"She confessed to everything," Gideon told him.

"It was about me…my…problem," Reid whispered.

"She was hurt that she couldn't help you," Gideon said.

"I was going to ask her to marry me," Reid blurted, pulling a small box from his pocket.

"Did she know that?" Gideon asked and Reid shook his head in the negative.

"I think you should talk to her," Gideon instructed the younger agent. With painstaking steps, Reid went back inside and passed the team without looking at them. He entered the interrogation room and sat down across from Elle.

"Spencer, I'm sorry," she said. He toyed with the box in his fingers.

"You should have talked to me," he whispered.

"So should you," she replied. Wordlessly he pushed the box across the table. She looked at it and groaned.

"Spencer, don't do this," she pleaded.

"I was going to ask you to marry me," he spat at her. She opened the box and looked at the ring.

"It's a nice ring. Save it for someone who deserves it," she said and handed it back.

"Elle…" he trailed off but she didn't answer.

"I'm sorry if I hurt you with all of this…but it hurt me too," she said.

"I don't understand," he mumbled.

"I had to sit by and watch you slip away. And you wouldn't let me help!" she shouted and walked out of the room, leaving him to sit alone.


	16. Try As I Might

**Try As I Might**

Two days had passed since the team had found JJ. The doctor had decided to keep her another day, much to JJ's dislike. She was currently lying in bed when there was a knock on her door.

"Come in," she called, sitting up. She smiled when she saw Garcia walked in with a big arrangement of flowers.

"Hey," Garcia said, setting the flowers on the table next to the window.

"Hi. Thanks for the flowers. They're beautiful," JJ replied.

"How are you feeling?" Garcia asked.

"I just want to get out of here. I'm tired of lying in a bed. It's all I've been doing for the last five days," she complained, laughing a little at the end. Garcia didn't see the humor in her friend's statement.

"Oh come on, Garcia. I can find it funny can't I? I mean I made it out alive," JJ said.

"I know. Tomorrow is the bail hearing," Garcia sighed. She knew she should have come up with something else to talk about but part of her wanted to keep JJ informed.

"I don't know if I'll be able to make it," JJ answered.

"I'm sure the doctor will release you soon," Garcia tried to reassure her friend.

"So how are you doing?" JJ asked.

"I've been better. I don't think any of us have gotten much sleep in the last five days. I know I won't sleep well until this is all over," Garcia admitted.

"Sometimes I think that she's right…that I should have known better," JJ murmured.

"Don't think like that," Garcia said, laying a hand on JJ's forearm.

"How is Reid handling all of this?" JJ finally asked. She'd heard that he wanted to propose to Elle.

"He's been hiding out in his apartment since yesterday. I think he's really depressed," Garcia answered, looking down.

"I don't blame him. She broke his heart from what Gideon told me," JJ sighed.

"This is all so insane. She used to be one of us," Garcia breathed.

"We're armed with really powerful tools, Garcia. It kind of makes sense that she'd be a near perfect unsub," JJ commented.

"Yeah…but it's just really creepy to think about," Garcia said with a small shiver.

They fell into silence for a while. JJ was glad that Garcia had come. It was a friendly face and one she didn't get to see very often…at least not as much as she would like. Garcia was about to open her mouth to speak when JJ's doctor walked in.

"Sorry to interrupt ladies but JJ, you can go home now," he said. JJ smiled broadly and threw off the covers. With a smile, the doctor walked out to let JJ get changed.

"Want me to drive you home?" Garcia asked as JJ pulled her belt through the loops in her pants.

"That would be great," JJ answered as Garcia picked up the bouquet of flowers. Together they headed down in the elevator and climbed into Garcia's car. The drive was quiet except for the radio playing softly in the background. When they finally pulled up, JJ's eyes widened. The crime tape was still blocking her door.

"I guess they haven't taken things down yet," Garcia murmured as JJ tore the tape off. She noticed metallic powder on the door handles.

Aside from the obvious crime scene collection residue the rest of the house looked normal…until she walked into the kitchen. Her eyes fell on the giant coffee grind mess.

"You go missing for three days and they can't even bother to clean up?" JJ groaned.

"That was actually here when we got here," Garcia piped up. JJ raised an eyebrow at first and then remembered she'd been making coffee when Elle had caught her off guard.

"Oh right…" she mumbled. She got a rag and a bucket and started to clean up the mess. Garcia set the flowers on the kitchen table and got down to help her. Together they managed to clean up the floor and most of the powder off the doorknobs.

"Now I know how civilians feel when we go in and search their place," JJ said, sitting on the couch with a glass of water in her hand.

"Yeah…I wouldn't want us traipsing through my house either," Garcia agreed.

The following morning, JJ was up early and dressed. She didn't know why but she felt she needed to get to the courthouse early. She pulled into a spot and climbed out of her. After making it through security she let her legs take her where they wanted to go. They brought her to the holding cell. After arguing with the security guard for a good five minutes she was finally admitted inside. She found Elle buttoning the top button of her shirt.

"Well this is something I didn't expect," Elle stated.

"Guess you don't know everything," JJ said, arms crossed over her chest. Elle pulled on her jacket as she eyed JJ.

"So what are you doing here?" she asked.

"I don't really know, actually. You hurt a lot of people," JJ replied.

"Don't lecture me, JJ," Elle snapped.

"And I'd leave before anyone else gets here. We don't want them to think you're double-crossing them," she added.

"I'm sorry you felt you had to do this to make a point," JJ murmured as she turned to leave.

"Yeah…I'm sorry too," Elle called after her.

JJ walked out of the holding block and headed for the main courtroom. She was still too early to be let in. So she took a seat on a nearby bench and waited, her eyes scanning the sharply dressed men and women for anyone she recognized. Finally Hotch and the rest of the team showed up.

"JJ, do I want to know how long you've been here?" Morgan asked as she stood up.

"Oh since about 8:30," JJ answered. He just shook his head. She noticed how anxious Reid looked. He had dark circles under his eyes, darker than usual at least. He was avoiding eye contact with everyone and didn't say a word as they took seats near the front of the court room. Hotch leaned up and whispered something to the Prosecutor.

"He probably wishes he could prosecute this case," Morgan whispered to Emily.

"I don't blame him," she answered.

Reid's eyes wandered over to the defense table. It was empty. He could feel his palms begin to sweat as they waited for Elle to be brought in and for the judge to enter. Finally, after what felt like an eternity, the bailiff walked Elle in. She was impeccably dressed and was without legal counsel.

"All rise," the bailiff boomed some ten minutes later. The judge walked in and took his seat behind the bench. The first thing he noticed was the fact that Elle was standing alone.

"Miss Greenaway where is your attorney?" he asked, looking down at her over the top of his glasses.

"With all due respect, Your Honor, I don't need an attorney," Elle answered.

"You're going to represent yourself then?" he asked and she nodded.

"So noted," he muttered, making note of it with a pen. He cleared his throat before looking over at the Prosecutor.

"Is Counsel ready?" he asked.

"Yes, Your Honor," the Prosecutor answered. The team watched with baited breath for the question that was on all of their minds.

"Miss Greenaway, on the count of kidnapping in the first degree. How do you plead?" the judge asked. All eyes were on Elle as her lips parted to answer his question.

"Guilty," she replied. Morgan's jaw dropped at her response.

"Did I hear her right?" he hissed in Gideon's ear. Gideon nodded his head very slowly, making sure that he had heard correctly. Apparently the judge was wondering the same thing.

"You're sure?" the judge asked.

"Yes, Your Honor. I'm fairly certain the prosecution has a strong case against me. I could stand here right now and give you the basic points but that would waste the court's time," Elle began to answer.

"And I wouldn't want to waste court time and money with a trial," she concluded.

"Very well then. The defendant enters a plea of guilty. Be back here on Wednesday for sentencing," the judge announced.

"Bailiff, please escort Miss Greenaway back to the holding block," he said. Elle stood up and followed the bailiff out.

"Court dismissed. Next case," the judge called.

The team filed out in silence. That had not gone the way any of them had expected. Hotch shook hands with the Prosecutor and watched him walk away.

"She's still in control," Gideon said once they were clear of the courtroom.

"How so?" Emily asked.

"She knew we'd want to bring her to trial. By pleading guilty, there is no trial," Hotch replied.

"She got exactly what she wanted," JJ murmured. Garcia raised an eyebrow.

"She wanted to be caught. She wanted to go to jail," JJ expounded.

"Why?" Reid asked; the first word he'd said in nearly two days.

"I don't know, Spence. I wish I did," JJ replied, squeezing his arm. With that the team headed back to headquarters. Two days later Hotch received a call from the prosecutor and brought everyone into the conference room.

"She got fifteen years," he announced. So that was it…it was over. They could move on with their lives.


	17. Try As I Might Extended Version

**Try As I Might (Extended Version)**

Two days had passed since the team had found JJ. The doctor had decided to keep her another day, much to JJ's dislike. She was currently lying in bed when there was a knock on her door.

"Come in," she called, sitting up. She smiled when she saw Garcia walked in with a big arrangement of flowers.

"Hey," Garcia said, setting the flowers on the table next to the window.

"Hi. Thanks for the flowers. They're beautiful," JJ replied.

"How are you feeling?" Garcia asked.

"I just want to get out of here. I'm tired of lying in a bed. It's all I've been doing for the last five days," she complained, laughing a little at the end. Garcia didn't see the humor in her friend's statement.

"Oh come on, Garcia. I can find it funny can't I? I mean I made it out alive," JJ said.

"I know. Tomorrow is the bail hearing," Garcia sighed. She knew she should have come up with something else to talk about but part of her wanted to keep JJ informed.

"I don't know if I'll be able to make it," JJ answered.

"I'm sure the doctor will release you soon," Garcia tried to reassure her friend.

"So how are you doing?" JJ asked.

"I've been better. I don't think any of us have gotten much sleep in the last five days. I know I won't sleep well until this is all over," Garcia admitted.

"Sometimes I think that she's right…that I should have known better," JJ murmured.

"Don't think like that," Garcia said, laying a hand on JJ's forearm.

"How is Reid handling all of this?" JJ finally asked. She'd heard that he wanted to propose to Elle.

"He's been hiding out in his apartment since yesterday. I think he's really depressed," Garcia answered, looking down.

"I don't blame him. She broke his heart from what Gideon told me," JJ sighed.

"This is all so insane. She used to be one of us," Garcia breathed.

"We're armed with really powerful tools, Garcia. It kind of makes sense that she'd be a near perfect unsub," JJ commented.

"Yeah…but it's just really creepy to think about," Garcia said with a small shiver.

They fell into silence for a while. JJ was glad that Garcia had come. It was a friendly face and one she didn't get to see very often…at least not as much as she would like. Garcia was about to open her mouth to speak when JJ's doctor walked in.

"Sorry to interrupt ladies but JJ, you can go home now," he said. JJ smiled broadly and threw off the covers. With a smile, the doctor walked out to let JJ get changed.

"Want me to drive you home?" Garcia asked as JJ pulled her belt through the loops in her pants.

"That would be great," JJ answered as Garcia picked up the bouquet of flowers. Together they headed down in the elevator and climbed into Garcia's car. The drive was quiet except for the radio playing softly in the background. When they finally pulled up, JJ's eyes widened. The crime tape was still blocking her door.

"I guess they haven't taken things down yet," Garcia murmured as JJ tore the tape off. She noticed metallic powder on the door handles.

Aside from the obvious crime scene collection residue the rest of the house looked normal…until she walked into the kitchen. Her eyes fell on the giant coffee grind mess.

"You go missing for three days and they can't even bother to clean up?" JJ groaned.

"That was actually here when we got here," Garcia piped up. JJ raised an eyebrow at first and then remembered she'd been making coffee when Elle had caught her off guard.

"Oh right…" she mumbled. She got a rag and a bucket and started to clean up the mess. Garcia set the flowers on the kitchen table and got down to help her. Together they managed to clean up the floor and most of the powder off the doorknobs.

"Now I know how civilians feel when we go in and search their place," JJ said, sitting on the couch with a glass of water in her hand.

"Yeah…I wouldn't want us traipsing through my house either," Garcia agreed.

The following morning, JJ was up early and dressed. She didn't know why but she felt she needed to get to the courthouse early. She pulled into a spot and climbed out of her. After making it through security she let her legs take her where they wanted to go. They brought her to the holding cell. After arguing with the security guard for a good five minutes she was finally admitted inside. She found Elle buttoning the top button of her shirt.

"Well this is something I didn't expect," Elle stated.

"Guess you don't know everything," JJ said, arms crossed over her chest. Elle pulled on her jacket as she eyed JJ.

"So what are you doing here?" she asked.

"I don't really know, actually. You hurt a lot of people," JJ replied.

"Don't lecture me, JJ," Elle snapped.

"And I'd leave before anyone else gets here. We don't want them to think you're double-crossing them," she added.

"I'm sorry you felt you had to do this to make a point," JJ murmured as she turned to leave.

"Yeah…I'm sorry too," Elle called after her.

JJ walked out of the holding block and headed for the main courtroom. She was still too early to be let in. So she took a seat on a nearby bench and waited, her eyes scanning the sharply dressed men and women for anyone she recognized. Finally Hotch and the rest of the team showed up.

"JJ, do I want to know how long you've been here?" Morgan asked as she stood up.

"Oh since about 8:30," JJ answered. He just shook his head. She noticed how anxious Reid looked. He had dark circles under his eyes, darker than usual at least. He was avoiding eye contact with everyone and didn't say a word as they took seats near the front of the court room. Hotch leaned up and whispered something to the Prosecutor.

"He probably wishes he could prosecute this case," Morgan whispered to Emily.

"I don't blame him," she answered.

Reid's eyes wandered over to the defense table. It was empty. He could feel his palms begin to sweat as they waited for Elle to be brought in and for the judge to enter. Finally, after what felt like an eternity, the bailiff walked Elle in. She was impeccably dressed and was without legal counsel.

"All rise," the bailiff boomed some ten minutes later. The judge walked in and took his seat behind the bench. The first thing he noticed was the fact that Elle was standing alone.

"Miss Greenaway where is your attorney?" he asked, looking down at her over the top of his glasses.

"With all due respect, Your Honor, I don't need an attorney," Elle answered.

"You're going to represent yourself then?" he asked and she nodded.

"So noted," he muttered, making note of it with a pen. He cleared his throat before looking over at the Prosecutor.

"Is Counsel ready?" he asked.

"Yes, Your Honor," the Prosecutor answered. The team watched with baited breath for the question that was on all of their minds.

"Miss Greenaway, on the count of kidnapping in the first degree. How do you plead?" the judge asked. All eyes were on Elle as her lips parted to answer his question.

"Guilty," she replied. Morgan's jaw dropped at her response.

"Did I hear her right?" he hissed in Gideon's ear. Gideon nodded his head very slowly, making sure that he had heard correctly. Apparently the judge was wondering the same thing.

"You're sure?" the judge asked.

"Yes, Your Honor. I'm fairly certain the prosecution has a strong case against me. I could stand here right now and give you the basic points but that would waste the court's time," Elle began to answer.

"And I wouldn't want to waste court time and money with a trial," she concluded.

"Very well then. The defendant enters a plea of guilty. Be back here on Wednesday for sentencing," the judge announced.

"Bailiff, please escort Miss Greenaway back to the holding block," he said. Elle stood up and followed the bailiff out.

"Court dismissed. Next case," the judge called.

The team filed out in silence. That had not gone the way any of them had expected. Hotch shook hands with the Prosecutor and watched him walk away.

"She's still in control," Gideon said once they were clear of the courtroom.

"How so?" Emily asked.

"She knew we'd want to bring her to trial. By pleading guilty, there is no trial," Hotch replied.

"She got exactly what she wanted," JJ murmured. Garcia raised an eyebrow.

"She wanted to be caught. She wanted to go to jail," JJ expounded.

"Why?" Reid asked; the first word he'd said in nearly two days.

"I don't know, Spence. I wish I did," JJ replied, squeezing his arm. With that the team headed back to headquarters. Two days later Hotch received a call from the prosecutor and brought everyone into the conference room.

"She got fifteen years," he announced. So that was it…it was over. They could move on with their lives.

A week later he found himself walking into a visitation room. He had barely spoken to anyone since the verdict had been reached. But he needed to see her. He needed to tell her he still loved her. When he saw her walk in, his throat went dry.

"Spencer, what are you doing here?" Elle asked, sitting down across from him.

"I…I love you, Elle. I know I shouldn't after what happened but I do," he confessed, trying to take one of her hands in his. Elle let out a breath.

"You're young. You're brilliant…but you're young. You deserve better than what I've given you," she whispered, lifting his chin so their eyes met.

"But I want…" he tried to say but she shushed him.

"I want you to make me a promise," she said gently. He nodded, wiping at his eyes. She allowed him to take her hands in his this time.

"I want you to let me go. I want you to move on…and please don't come back here again," she said and stood up.

"Elle…wait," Reid called out to her. She stopped and looked over her shoulder.

"Goodbye, Spencer," she said and disappeared between two guards.


End file.
